


i think i like you too much

by spiritedwhere



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkward Romance, Cute Ending, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hidden Feelings, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, happy romance, lots of kisses, softies, two dumb nerds in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-04-17 21:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14198025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritedwhere/pseuds/spiritedwhere
Summary: fake dating leads to real feelings.can also be summarized as "adrien convinces marinette to be his fake girlfriend, which she agrees to and hates almost instantly."





	1. friends forever

**Author's Note:**

> i said i was going to wait until posting this, but.... enjoy.

Marinette wakes up to the sound of constant buzzing from her phone and a headache from yesterday’s akuma attack. Slinging an arm over her head to stop the constant buzzing, it takes her a moment to realize that no, that’s not her alarm, but someone calling her. Tikki, sleeping soundly next to her, merely rolls over and hides underneath her biggest pillow, drowning out any sound for the kwami. Letting out a groan Marinette fumbles her hands around the sheets, searching in vain for her phone that she knows she, once again, didn’t charge last night.

Marinette answers on the last ring, thumb clicking “answer” and phone raised to her ear. “Hello?” she sleepily asks. “Alya, is that you?”

“Is this a bad time?” the voice on the other end asks, and it’s Marinette’s heart that wins over her mind when she recognizes it to belong to the one and only _Adrien Agreste._

“Adrien? What- How- _Who_ gave you my number?” she’s spitting out, sitting up quickly before she remembers that _ow, jeez, her head fucking hurts_ and _wow, way to sound totally cool_. Leaning back into her pillows, Marinette begins to nervously pick at her large stuffed pillow, wondering why the actual love of her life is doing calling her, and what is he calling her for at _seven in the goddamn morning_.

“Alya did. Is that alright?”

“No, no trust me, it’s perfect! Well, I mean, it’s not perfect- but you’re totally perfect and-! I mean, it’s cool and you’re cool and everything’s cool right now! You don’t have to worry because everything is just fine! Totally fine!” Marinette rushes out, and she really wishes she was at the top of her stairs so she could kick herself down and just end it all right now. On the other end, she can hear Adrien laugh, actual pieces of sunshine breaking off and lighting up her room.

“You’re funny,” he says, and she’s literally going to throw her phone out the window and squeal for an hour after she hangs up, she swears to every single deity out there that she most certainly _will_ and there is nothing they can do to stop her from doing so.

“Listen,” he continues, “I’m going to ask you to do something really weird and you can totally say no if you want to, but it’s just,” he hesitates, “I need to ask for your help.”

“Go for it,” Marinette says, and she’s mentally giving herself a high-five because yes, she did just say something without stuttering to Adrien, and yes, she didn’t need Alya to help her out. Nothing however, prepares her for what Adrien has to say next.

“Marinette, do you want to be my girlfriend?”

Marinette thinks if she wasn’t laying down she would’ve fainted. She’s over the moon and about to simultaneously about to call Alya and the nearest hospital because absolutely cannot believe that this is happening to her, a real-life dream come true, that all those wishes on the stars on her balcony have finally paid off, and she is honestly going to-

 _Wait_.

“Why do I have to be your… your girlfriend… for help?” she asks, already sensing that something is up. She can already feel her heart slowly slipping, ready to leave in the hopes of protecting its host from pain. “Is there something you need me to do, or -?”

 “It’ll be better if I explain in person,” he says, interrupting her. “You’re at your house, right? I’ll be over in about twenty minutes.” Without waiting for a response, Adrien hangs up, leaving Marinette with her phone clutched tightly in her hand and confusion in her mind. She’s still processing the fact that he called her, and not the other way around like her horrible fiasco the one time she attempted to be forward. Adrien Agreste called her! _Her_!

She’s picturing just what kind of outfits their kids will wear when it hits her.

Adrien. Here. _In twenty minutes._

Bouncing up out of her bed and hurrying down the steps to the main floor, she gives a quick moment to access the damage around her. A few dozen Adrien posters, his schedule which is to her horror still open and showing off this week’s events. Her computer, ready to be unlocked and showing one of her favorite pictures of Adrien as her lock screen, not to mention the matching home screen. Marinette still has a few framed pictures but considers them safe from elimination as they contain a few other friends in them. On the other side of her room, she spots what looks like a limited edition Adrien Agreste t-shirt draped on her chair. A few minutes paired with a good montage song, and Marinette assumes it might be possible to wipe it all out in one go. Overall, it’s not too bad compared to when Adrien first came to her room, but she figures she’ll have to put in some elbow grease if she wants the room anywhere near to normal.

The twenty minutes seem to come too quickly, Marinette just changing her lock and home screens to default settings when she hears her mother call from downstairs. Tikki, now awake and alert, finds a cozy spot in Marinette’s room to rest as her holder heads down, a few snacks spread out for her to enjoy and ears alert for the sound of them approaching.

“Marinette, you didn’t tell me you had a guest!” her mother says, turning around to show a smiling Adrien at her side. He gives a small wave, then points his finger to her outfit. A small blush paints his cheeks. Looking down, Marinette is struck with the most horrified feeling she’s faced since she saw her first akuminized victim.

In the midst of all the preparations for her room, Marinette forgot the most important thing to worry and prep before Adrien showed up: _herself_. Instead of a clean, pristine, and stylish outfit, Marinette is in her pajamas, loose tank top and polka-dotted pants with her pigtails uneven and messy. Worst, she’s not even wearing slippers, showcasing her toes which are in _dire_ need of a manicure. Flushing, she throws her arms over her chest.

“I’ll wait down here with your parents, while you change,” Adrien offers, and Marinette only gives a quick nod before she bolts upwards. Does she trust her mother and father to entertain and not embarrass her? No. Does she have much of a choice at the moment? No, especially not while she is flinging her clothes into her dirty hamper and slinging on the first few things she can get her hands on. Undoing her pigtails, she realizes she doesn’t have the time to redo them and runs her hand through her hair instead. Her hair down for once won’t kill anyone, Marinette reasons. Sliding some socks onto her feet, she practically slips down the steps of her ladder in her haste to grab Adrien from her parents.

“And that’s how I passed the level!” is the first thing Marinette hears one she approaches the living room. Walking in, she watches her father and Adrien seated on the same couch, talking almost over one another.

“Incredible!” Adrien is exclaiming. “I never thought to go through the woods to get the treasure! I always tried going through the castle!”

“Everyone does! But, it’s impossible to get all the defenses down through that route!” her father says, wagging a finger. “Marinette was the one who originally thought to go the other way, and I didn’t think it’d work until she took control of the remote and navigated through it herself!” At the sound of her feet approaching, both turn their heads to look at her. Adrien’s face breaks out into a grin.

“You have to show me how you passed level 23 of Fire Starters 2! Did you really go through the woods and break down the wall defenses from there?”

“Uh yeah,” she says, rubbing her neck. “It took me a few tries to get it just right, but if you do the steps right in the woods, you should be able to pass it really quickly.” She clears her throat, finding it incredibly dry suddenly. “You said you had something you wanted to talk about?” she asks, swallowing deeply.

With a burst of joy, she realizes she hasn’t stuttered. On the couch next to Adrien, her father throws a quick thumbs-up her way, enjoying the way his beloved daughter deals with her crush, however badly it might be at times.

“Oh yeah!” he exclaims. Adrien turns to Marinette’s father, lifting himself from the couch. “It was nice talking with you, sir, but I have to talk to your daughter for a little bit. Can we talk more about Fire Starters 2 later?”

Her father gives a hearty laugh, slapping a hand on Adrien’s back as he pulls him into a hug. Patting his back, he tosses Marinette a wink. “Of course, Adrien. But please, call me Tom, alright? I’m too young to be called ‘sir’ these days.” Pulling himself away from the hug, he gestures to the kitchen, where Marinette sees her mom stick her head into their line of sight and throw a wave in their direction.

“He’s all yours,” her dad says. “I’m going to help make you guys some snacks. But Marinette, make sure to give him back when you guys finish talking, alright?”

Marinette feels her neck warm up, cheeks already hot enough to pre-heat an oven. Giving a quick nod, she turns back in the direction of her room and all but bolts up, Adrien following closely behind her. When they reach her room, she closes the door tightly. Adrien sits down on her small couch, Marinette awkwardly positioning herself in her desk chair. For a moment, it’s silent, each other casting looks and glancing away quickly. When Marinette focuses her eyes around her room, she catches sight of Tikki resting under the very couch Adrien is seated on.

“So,” she says, “you had something to say?”

“Yeah. I know I sounded weird on the phone, and I asked you a pretty odd question… but there’s a good explanation for it, I promise,” Adrien says. He fumbles with his words for a bit, the most he’s ever seemed not quite like himself. Wondering just how to put his thoughts into words, Adrien decides to go with the easy route and leave it out in the open.

“My father thinks we’re dating.”

Marinette thinks she’s going to pass out. Clutching onto the desk for support, she spins her face away from Adrien and gazes at her reflection in the computer. “W-what?” she sputters out, wondering just how red she’ll look once she’s done talking. “Why?”

“That one day when we were being chased around the city… all those pictures of us at the park, and the subway… and the movies.” Adrien lets out a little laugh as he recalls that day, how Marinette was dragged around in pajamas to help him flee from the public. “My fans all said you were my girlfriend, and I guess no one ever thought to fact check when they were writing articles later, or… explaining to my dad who you were.”

“Can’t you just tell him that we’re not… like that?”

“It’s too late. He already wants me to invite you to a banquet, and it doesn’t really help that you’re so talented sewing and designing things. He said he might put you under his wing as an intern or something- “

“Wait. You’re joking right?”

“My dad doesn’t like it when I do jokes.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Anyways, all I need is for you to please pose as my girlfriend, just for a little bit. Then, he’ll let us be and we’ll only have to show up together for fashion shows or something.”

Marinette needs a minute to make sure her ears are working correctly. Not only is this truly a dream come true with Gabriel Agreste, one of Paris’ most famed designers wanting to have her at some of the city’s biggest fashion events and at his side while he creates eye-catching looks, but she’ll actually get the opportunity to date Adrien. _Adrien_. As in, practically the only guy she’s had her eye on for the past few months, someone who she has quite literally scaled buildings for on more than one occasion. She’d get the chance to actually call him her boyfriend, and not to mention get the upper hand on Chloé for once.

But, she reasons, it’s not like it’s really true. Adrien doesn’t like her, and she’d only be playing a role. Being his girlfriend would be less real than Ladybug and Chat Noir actually being a thing. And sure, it’d be a nice time and more than rewarding opportunity, but Marinette isn’t sure if she can take it.

If her heart can.

Nevertheless, she can’t say no to him. Adrien could tear her apart with his bare hands, and Marinette would happily sew herself back together. Twisting the chair to turn her body in his line of sight, she nods hesitantly, then goes forth and says the words he traveled across town to hear.

“Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

Adrien smiles, standing up and crossing over to give his friend a tight hug. She stiffens but relaxes as she realizes she’ll need to get used to this type of thing. She’s his girlfriend now. This is normal.

 _This is normal_ , she repeats to her beating heart. _Perfectly normal._

“Thank you, a million times over, Marinette,” he says in her ear. He hugs a bit tighter, Marinette realizing that for however lean he looks, Adrien has more than enough muscle under all those hundred-dollar shirts he wears. “I couldn’t ask for a better friend to do this for me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she says back. She smiles as she says her next words, hoping she’s not crossing any boundaries. “Just, remember to take me out on a date soon, huh?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to take you on a date before the banquet. That’s what boyfriends do, right?”

“Yes,” Marinette confirms. “Girlfriends typically do the same thing, so I guess I’ll have to figure out something for us to do as well. That is, if you’re fine with it?”

“Of course!” Adrien pulls back from the hug, his hands resting on Marinette’s shoulders. Marinette can feel her shoulders burning under her touch, and just knows she looks like she spent a whole day at the beach without sunscreen. “Not only will it let me leave my house without my bodyguard on my toes, but I’ll get to hang out with my ‘girlfriend’, learn more about you. About ‘us’.”

Marinette feels like someone’s stabbing her heart out with every word Adrien says. She forces herself to smile, and pulls out her phone, opening up her SNS account. “We should update our relationship status… to make things look official, right?” she asks.

“Yes,” Adrien agrees. “You’re so smart Marinette; I haven’t even thought of that!” Pulling out his phone, he quickly opens his as well.

“You know me,” she says. “I’m always one step ahead of the game.” A few taps on their phone, and a few buttons pushed confirming that _yes, they want to have each other’s profile added to their relationship page_. When the couple makes to reload their page, they see the new updates next to their profiles, a sudden swarm of likes and comments flooding each account.

 **_Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ ** _is in a relationship with **Adrien Agreste.**_

 **_Adrien Agreste_ ** _is in a relationship with **Marinette Dupain-Cheng.**_

“So,” Adrien starts, “I guess that means we’re official now?”

“I guess so.”

“What now?” Adrien asks.

“Now… now we answer Alya’s phone call.” Marinette motions to her phone, with Alya’s contact flashing. 

She presses answer on the screen, the two anxiously awaiting Alya’s face to flash up and a flurry of questions to arise as the connection loads. When it finally does, Marinette and Adrien seated next to each other, she’s struck with a wave of terror to see that she’s not alone.

“Finally!” Alya’s singing out, Nino beside her and beaming into the camera. “We’ve been waiting for _so_ long for this!”

“We?” Adrien asks.

“ _We_ ,” Nino affirms. He waves, a bit too overjoyed even for him. “Dude, I can’t believe you and Marinette are finally a thing. I just won twenty euros from the fencing club _and_ the art club!”

“Which you’re going to share with me, since I helped you place your bet,” Alya interjects. She has that instigative look on her face, which Marinette just knows means that she’s about to throw the two through the ringer and back again. Luckily, Adrien stops her before she can open her mouth.

“Wait,” Adrien says. He has a question he has to ask, his two friends mentioning something he can’t ignore. “There was a bet going around?”

“Just a small one,” Alya says, ignoring the blushes that arise on them. “Not like you guys didn’t know.”

“We didn’t,” Marinette says.

“Yeah, we didn’t,” Adrien agrees.

“It doesn’t matter now. You two are a couple!” Alya says. “Gosh, that feels _so_ amazing to say that! Marinette, I told you it would happen!”

Marinette stiffens, the phone in her hand feeling heavy. Adrien casts her a look.

“What would happen?” he asks, dropping his voice low so Alya can’t hear.

She can.

“You two, silly!” she exclaims, causing Nino to burst into a laugh. “Nino told me you could be a little oblivious, but please, don’t tell me you didn’t know Marinette had that crush on you until _now_. Honestly, after so many months spent pining after you without anything coming out of it, it’s a miracle you caught a clue when you did!”

“Alya!”

“I’m just saying, Marinette. You had a crush on the guy, and it’s not like you made it a secret whenever you were around him. Even a macaroon would be able to call you out from the other side of the room!”

Adrien’s mind freezes while she continues talking, blocking out the rest of her conversation and taking in only what he just heard, brain working hard to process it. When it does, he picks out the key words and places them in some form of a coherent, broken up sentence. Marinette. Had. A crush. On _him_. He looks at her, sees her eyes go wide and the tips of her ears beginning to turn red the more her best friend talks. He feels his own face turn redder than before, which Alya takes notice of.

“Aww,” she squeals. “You too are just so cute, still blushing even though you’re dating. Marinette, tell me, how did it happen?”

Marinette is struck frozen, her eyes darting from side to side and mouth dry as she scrambles around in her brain for an answer to that question. She didn’t think she’d be the one coming up with their love story, despite spending long hours imagining dozens of fantasy situations where Adrien would turn to her, sweep her off of her feet, and proclaim his love for her.

“Well… er…” she starts off. “It really… it really started over- “

“That day we spent together,” Adrien cuts in, finding the lie smoothly slipping out. “We were hanging out, alone for once, and I just realized how incredible Marinette was. She was so sweet and kind, and I just had to ask her to go with me on a proper date after that. And well, that date turned to another one, and then another one, until I went and asked her to be my girlfriend.”

Alya turns to Nino and scowls. “Why don’t we have something that cute? Ladybug just threw us in a cage at the zoo and we were stuck there until the city was saved!”

“That _is_ cute,” Nino says, raising his arm to rest around her shoulders. “We got a story to tell that’s not only unique but gives you a good chance to bring up the Ladyblog to anyone who’s not following it!”

Alya’s face softens, leaning into her boyfriend’s touch. “Well, I don’t think that last part is all cute,” she murmurs, “but I guess it is pretty unique.” She turns her head and gives him a kiss.

Marinette and Adrien watch for a bit in awkward silence, unsure whether to interrupt their kissing best friends or just sit it out. The few seconds they assumed it’d last for quickly turn into minutes, the two finally interjecting when the view of the camera begins to go down and Nino’s arms and hands start to wander.

“We should call it a day, right?” Marinette asks, making sure to keep her voice loud to get Alya’s attention. She sees the two come back into view, with Alya’s face flushed and Nino looking quite similar in the background.

“Yes,” Alya starts, voice a bit higher than usual. She looks back at Nino and makes to hang up. “We’ll call each other later, alright?”

She hangs up before she gets an answer, and leaves Marinette and Adrien seated together, staring at her blank phone screen.

“Well, that was something,” Adrien lets out. He runs his hand through his hair and tries to give Marinette a smile, but feels something prompting him not to, to not let her see his face. He wonders why he still has a blush on his face.

“Yeah, it was,” she agrees, mouth dry and causing her to lick her lips. Adrien and Marinette seem to realize they’re seated closer than when they were when Alya originally called them, shoulders brushing. They quickly separate, each on either end of the couch and casting quick glances when they feel the other isn’t looking.

“I’m going to get something to eat,” Marinette says, standing up, desperate for something to do other than sit in silence, elephant in the room threatening to start a rampage at any moment. She forces a glance at Adrien, voice coming out much stronger than she thought it would be. “You want something?”

“Uh, yeah,” he says, looking up. “Just bring me whatever you’re going to get, is that alright?”

“Of course.” She gets up and crosses the room, exiting as fast as she can. She knows she’s red, knows Adrien must think she’s the weirdest girl in the world and that she’s a crazed fan because Marinette knows he didn’t ignore when Alya brought up her crush. She’s so mortified she’s not sure how she’ll ever face him again, much less be able to go through with this fake dating thing. Vaguely, a part in Marinette wishes for an akuma to attack, if only it allowed herself to leave all this behind for the time being.

Adrien places his head in his hands, finally alone in the room. He counts to ten, counts back down to one, and starts all over until he feels his face finally cool down. Plagg snickers, flying out of his jacket and resting on the pillow next to Adrien.

“So, you _really_ didn’t know she liked you?” Plagg questions, doubtful. “Because I did, and I’m not even allowed to be out of your jacket when anyone else is around.”

“Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“I thought you were being dumb! Or really devoted to Ladybug. Guess it’s a little of both of those things, huh?”

“I just thought she was shy! I didn’t know she was weird around me because she _liked_ me.”

“Marinette? Shy?” Plagg scoffs. “She’s the class representative, designed an entire France themed collection for Jagged Stone, and she’s the only person I think the class would singlehandedly die for, save for maybe Rose. She’s the farthest thing from shy, and you know that.”

He does. Adrien rubs the back of his neck. Was he really being that dumb? Sure, Ladybug played a huge role in not knowing she had a crush on him, but honestly now that he was looking thoroughly at it all, Adrien saw far more than just a few hints that Marinette liked him.

“I’m an idiot.”

“Yeah, I know. A lovesick one, if it makes you feel better, but an idiot nonetheless.” Plagg raises a small hand to pat Adrien’s leg. “At least you know now kid, before you end up breaking her heart.”

“Breaking her heart? Come on, Plagg. Marinette isn’t the type to get hurt.”

“Marinette wasn’t the type to have a crush on you either. But here we are.” Plagg shakes his head, making to hide himself once more. “She’s coming, by the way.”

“Hey!” she says, one hand propping herself up and the other holding a tray full of pastries. “I hope you don’t mind, but my dad wanted you to try some of everything from the bakery.”

Adrien smiles. “Oh wow, are you kidding? That’s great.” He gets up, ready to help her climb into the room, but watches instead as Marinette lifts herself up one handed, tray still balanced.

“Woah Marinette, you’re really strong,” he comments.

She blushes, darting her eyes away and focusing instead on putting the tray down on the couch. Her heart threatens to jump out of her chest onto the floor. She can’t help the smile that comes over her face, or the way the room seems to feel hotter. “Thanks.”

She’s nervous, Adrien notes. Her hands are darting around the tray, adjusting the pastries, finally choosing one, yet not eating from it.

“You don’t have to do this,” Adrien says. “You don’t have to pretend to be my girlfriend if you don’t want to, if it’s too much.” He doesn’t mention any comment of a crush.

“No. I want to do this,” Marinette says. She puts her mind on auto-pilot and her heart on mute, running through the responses she’s given out to her friends dozens of times. “You need my help, and you’d do the same for me. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Right,” Adrien confirms, smiling at her. Friends. Marinette is really too kind, Adrien realizes, too kind and too sweet and altogether too generous to those around her.

At the end of his visit, forcibly called to an end when he gets a call reminding him of a photoshoot he has, Adrien groans, feeling very full and very much in love with Marinette’s father. He rubs his belly, feeling more well fed than he’s ever been at any of his father’s boring fashion dinners and company events.

“Your dad is the best baker I’ve ever known,” he says, collecting the crumbs on his shirt and jeans and placing it on the tray, now empty. “Give my full compliments to him.”

“Will do,” Marinette says, her uneaten tarte still rested in her hands. She watches him, unsure whether to say anything or just let him leave. It’s hard, she realizes, when you like someone and they know, but don’t do anything upon knowing. And well, she can’t act like he doesn’t know, with the way he keeps gazing at her, like she’s supposed to do something. Or God, the way he offered for her to back out right now, like Alya won’t singlehandedly fight not only him but the entire Agreste empire, fashion designers and all.

He gets up from the couch, Marinette following suit.

“Goodbye,” he says.

“Bye,” she responds, a second too late.

They stand awkwardly for a moment, unsure what they should do. A kiss on the cheek, while traditional, was never something they did unless necessary. They both decide to try something on their own, with Marinette going in for a handshake, and Adrien going in for a hug. They freeze momentarily as they realize they have both gotten the wrong idea on how to say goodbye, Adrien’s arms halfway wrapped around her. Pulling apart, both blush and glance downwards.

“How about a fist pump?” Adrien offers, choosing him and his Lady’s go-to method as a suggestion to a goodbye.

“Yeah, a fist bump sounds nice,” Marinette agrees. Fist bumps. She can do that. She has done that, hundreds of times with her partner in (fighting) crime.

They raise their hands, arms spread and hands banging together before breaking apart. It feels familiar to the two of them, something that brings a wave of both nostalgia and shock to the couple. Shaking it off, Marinette and Adrien don’t comment on it, each knocking it up in their minds to just the memory of their superhero goodbye. He crosses the room, beginning to climb down, but pauses.

“So, Friday?” Adrien asks, grabbing Marinette’s attention. She was already beginning to tidy up, but snaps her head upwards.

“Friday?” she questions, curious. Bringing a hand up to her hair, she runs twists a bundle of hair with one finger, unsure of what he’s referring to.

“Friday,” Adrien repeats. “You’re free, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Then I’ll pick you up. We can go to the movies, or somewhere to eat. Maybe both, you know?”

“What? Like a- ?” She stops herself from finishing the question.

“Yeah,” Adrien says. He smiles at her. “Like that.”

He leaves, Marinette left staring dumbly at the space where he had just been. Tikki comes out of her hiding place and looks up at her holder.

“Did you just get asked out?” she asks, not hiding her delight.

“I think I just did,” Marinette says, finding her mouth not quite working as well as it had been during his stay. She sits back down, feeling like she might just faint. Did he really ask her out on a date? Can it even be considered that? Is it just a bit, and that’s all? Should Marinette jump up and scream, or climb into her bed and mourn the fact she has to doubt the realness of the date with the guy she’s dreamed about for months?

“It’ll work itself out,” Tikki tells her, comforting her holder and sensing the great distress she feels. Tikki says it not only as a friend, but as a kwami, who could sense something in the room during Adrien’s visit, something that lingered until he left, and took the thing with him. Something she had been aware of for a long time, sensed during school and every outing with Marinette’s friends, but hadn’t been able to trace until now.

No, not a thing, Tikki corrected herself. A what. A who. A kwami. Creation’s opposite, and other half.

Marinette nods, unaware of her kwami’s realization. “It’ll work itself out,” Marinette repeats to herself.

 _We’ll work ourselves out_ , she thinks to herself. _We will._


	2. deeply love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adrien and marinette finally go on that date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay it's been a minute, i know... don't yell lmao just read and flood my inbox with ur thoughts on this chapter

Adrien didn’t think he’d have much trouble planning a date. He’s seen the movies, read the books. He doesn’t think of it as a problem until he actually has to do it, the week leading up to his planned date with Marinette in frazzled bits of how to treat Paris’ most talented teenager. Adrien thinks he hasn’t been so stressed over something since his first day of school. He’s never had so much power under him, never the opportunity to sit down and actually decide what to do or how to act or hell, how to even _date_.

On Monday, he scoured every romance article on what to do in Paris and took Marinette to lunch, searching for any hints as to where they could go.

“They said they cook the food right in front of you!” she gushed out.

She seemed more at ease with him then, engaging in a conversation that didn’t seem forced and going so far as to throw in a joke every once and awhile. Adrien’s wave of admirers didn’t even phase her as much as he would’ve thought. If Adrien didn’t know her, he would have assumed she was even _used_ to being in front of the camera. He guessed the weekend spent preparing for their first day as a “couple” at school paid off. Sure, they hadn’t done anything other than hold hands and hug around others so far, but Adrien assumed that even that would’ve been too much for either of them to do to each other, much less around their friends.

“Do they?” Adrien asked. A date spent at a restaurant didn’t sound too bad. A nice dinner, maybe a stroll by the river afterwards. He wondered if a stop by Paris’ most favorite ice cream man might be too much, or the perfect cherry on top to their date.

“I should see if Alya wants to save up so we can go together,” she said. “It would be so much fun going there, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, for sure.”

“Adrien, you have a little something on your shirt.” She pressed a finger to his chest.

He had glanced down, expecting a stain and instead feeling her finger rise quickly and run over his face, stopping after she reached the top of his nose. Marinette had burst out laughing, leaning back into her chair.

“I didn’t think you’d fall for that!” she let out once she was somewhat composed. “Didn’t learn that trick in homeschool, huh?”

“Afraid not. I guess I wasn’t as _nosy_ as I should have been,” Adrien laughed with her. Her face had been red from laughing so hard, and Adrien realized that it made her eyes look even more blue, helped show the soft freckles she had.

That night, he had set a reservation with the restaurant, crossing everything he could in his body in the hopes of some good luck.

Also spotted that night had been pictures of Adrien and Marinette eating, tweets from fans of him to articles from tabloids and teen magazines detailing it all, or all of what they knew, at least.

On Tuesday, he took her out to lunch again, Marinette choosing the ice cream shop down the road from the school as their place to converse. It’s quieter than the place her took her out to, even with the waves of students coming in and quickly filling up the small place.

“Damn,” she said under her breath, the curse word surprising Adrien. She took a quick spoonful of ice cream and slipped it into her mouth, leaving a trace of chocolate on her chin. “Look.”

She turned her phone around and displayed the news article, headline screaming _“Virus Outbreak! Restaurants Closed As New Meat Shipments Come In!”_

“That’s horrible,” Adrien said, his heart falling into his stomach as he scanned the article, hoping he wouldn’t find one restaurant in particular on the list. He did. “Guess it’s lucky we went out for ice cream then, huh?”

“ _Very_ lucky,” Marinette nodded, going in for another spoonful. Adrien stifled a laugh when he saw more ice cream on her chin. He grabbed a napkin and leaned over the table, wiping it off gently. Marinette froze.

“You have ice cream on your chin,” he had explained, carefully swiping it off.

“There’s no one watching us,” Marinette said, feeling how his fingers brushed her lips as she talked. “You don’t have to pretend.”

Adrien looked at her, confused. “I’m not pretending.”

That night, he played Drake in his room and cried to Plagg about how hard it was to plan a date, earning a pillow thrown at his head and the stench of Camembert on him that lasted for hours.

On Wednesday, he didn’t have time to think of dates, an akuma attack leading to school being canceled for the day and Ladybug and Chat Noir climbing up and down buildings until the sun was going down.

 Strangely, during the attack, Marinette had been nowhere to be seen, leading to an almost frantic search of Paris once the city had been cleansed, worry coursing through his veins at the thought that she was injured. Adrien didn’t know why, but it terrified him of Marinette being hurt, even as he knew deep down that she was braver and stronger than an entire Roman army. Ladybug had left almost as soon as he had, citing her friends as someone she needed to find. She seemed worried too, and Adrien wondered if any of Ladybug’s friends were injured, or maybe had been in any of the buildings struck by the akuma.

Adrien found Marinette eventually, in a subway surrounded by dozens of other evacuated citizens.

“I was worried,” Adrien told her, before he wrapped his arms around her for a tight hug. He knew then and knows now that the akuma wouldn’t cause harm to her, that everything gets fixed at the end, and Ladybug cures all, but he hugged her nonetheless, relief coursing through him. He did it without thinking, burying his face into her neck, smelling the sweat and dust and perfume she wore.

“So was I,” Marinette had said back. She wrapped her arms around him, and it didn’t feel forced, didn’t make her heart hurt, but warm up. The hug felt normal, like it wasn’t only natural, but something they would have expected to get out of each other. “You should’ve texted me.”

“You should have texted _me_.”

“I was underground,” she pointed out, pulling back to gesture towards the ceiling above them. “The signal isn’t as good as you’d think.”

He laughed, happy to hear something so _Marinette_ coming from her. “Let’s get something to eat,” he offered. “Would your parents mind if we stop by the bakery?”

“Mind?” Marinette scoffed. “My parents are practically dying to catch you in the bakery again.”

For the first time, their hands found each other on the way there, fingers intertwined effortlessly.

On Thursday, Adrien tracked Alya down and asked her for help on a date for Marinette.

“So, you waited until you went public with your relationship before coming to me for help?” she starts off, crossing her arms and peering at Adrien from the top of her glasses. He’s shoving his books into his locker, Marinette somewhere else in the school. They’ve agreed to meet on the steps outside of their school, planning on heading out to lunch with Nino and Alya, but he found it crucial to talk to her while he could, in order to find _something_ for their date.

“Well- “

“You’re in luck,” she cuts in, uncrossing her arms and dropping the persona. She’s waited months, _months_ for this moment. Sure, she would love to play up the role of Bad Cop near Adrien now that he’s dating her best friend, but she’s been expecting and prepping and waiting for this day for _too long_ to keep up that act for long. It’d be criminal if she didn’t do anything, especially knowing how challenging it was to have anything happen around the two at times.

“I’m a Marinette expert, of course,” she says. “If I wasn’t running the Ladyblog, I could run a blog all about Marinette’s fashion.”

“So, do you have any ideas on where to take her tomorrow?” he asks. “It’s going to be our first date together and well, I’m not really sure where to go.”

Alya quirks an eyebrow at his sentence. From what she had seen, the two had been going on dates nearly every day this week. A quick skim through any article online would have the pictures to prove it, the two living up to every scenario Alya had dreamt up. Cafés, ice cream shops, and if Alya was right, Marinette took him to meet her parents just the other day, an Adrien fan posting up and down Twitter pictures she had taken outside of the bakery.

“First date, huh?” she asks. “Doesn’t seem like it to me.”

“As a public couple,” Adrien clarifies. “We’ve headed out together before, but this is going to be the first one I planned out, where we’ll be intentionally in the public’s eye. The only thing is, I don’t know where to go.”

“Well then, you’ve come to the right person,” she says. “I happen to know an event that’s happening tomorrow that Marinette will just _love_. If you can find a way to get tickets, she’ll be more than overjoyed. Although, I’m sure just having you by her side will make her more than happy.”

Adrien blushes, turning his head so she won’t catch sight of it (she does). When he looks to his side, he catches sight of Marinette, stepping into the room and slinging her backpack off her shoulders. She’s joined by Nino, and they begin making their way to them.

“I’ll text you the event,” Alya whispers. “I’m sure you don’t want her to find out until tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that would be ideal,” he says back. “Quick, laugh like I said something really funny.”

She tosses her head back. Nino and Marinette reach them as she’s ending her burst of laughter, each looking puzzled.

“What’s so funny?” Nino asks.

“Marinette’s head game.”

Marinette yelps, bringing a hand to push Alya’s shoulder. She’s bright red, so much Adrien worries she’ll pass out from the sudden blood rush to her head. He feels his own face grow hot by Alya’s sudden comment.

 “I’m joking, I’m joking! Cool it Marinette; you’re stronger than you think!” Alya exclaims, waving a hand at Marinette to ward her off from any more shoves. Her best friend may seem fragile, but she’s seen the way Marinette’s easily thrown bags of flour over her shoulder and is _not_ prepared for that kind of strength against her.

“He just said a funny joke,” Alya supplies.

“Funny? From Adrien?” Nino laughs. “Now _that_ is a funny joke.”

“Hey!” Marinette says, quick to Adrien’s defense. “He makes good jokes. Occasionally, at least.”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause he’s your boyfriend,” Alya mentions.

“Am not!” Marinette quickly says.

“You kinda are,” Nino says, joining his girlfriend.

“Adrien is a funny guy! You guys are just mean,” Marinette tells the two.

“Let’s just go out to eat, right?” Adrien offers, ready to sweep in and move the conversation away. “I’ll pay for whatever you get if we all start walking to the café right now.”

“In that case, why aren’t we gone?” Nino says. He grabs Alya’s hands and all but sprints out of the room, leaving Marinette and Adrien alone.

“Ready?” he asks, arm around reaching to grab her hand. She lets him, fingers twining together. With her free arm, Marinette adjusts the straps on her shoulders, smiling upwards at Adrien.

“Yeah,” she says, feeling the regular blush she gains from him fade away much quicker than it usually did. It feels almost natural like this, as if the world was waiting for this moment. “We better go, before they order half the menu.”

“I’m funny, right?” he asks her on their walk there. “You just didn’t say that to defend me?”

“Of course you’re funny,” she says. “A little dry on the puns, but hey, we can’t have it all.”

“Hey!” Adrien exclaims. Marinette laughs, bringing her free hand upwards to cover her mouth.

“My puns are good,” he mentions a moment later.

“Your puns are _great_ ,” she corrects.

And on Friday, he called her hours beforehand and asked her to get ready for the evening, letting her know it was a formal event, but not releasing anything else. He put on his best suit and spent two hours in front of the mirror trying in vain to conquer his curls, with little accomplished. Adrien has Plagg reassure him five times that yes, he looked good (“You’re a model, for Camembert’s sake”) before he gets into the car and starts for Marinette’s house, Gorilla silently driving. He’s nervous for some reason, something he isn’t quite sure he has the answer for. Fiddling with the cuffs, Adrien makes sure nothing is out of place, even going so far as reaching into his pocket and making sure the two slips of paper are there, when he’s spent half of the afternoon doing the same thing.

When they reach her house, Adrien steps out of the car and is knocking on the door before Gorilla can even stop the car. The door swings open, Adrien wrapped into a tight hug and brought inside.

“Adrien! Always a pleasure.”

“Mr. Du- _Tom_ ,” Adrien says, correcting himself quickly. He smiles at Marinette’s father and walks to the living room, sitting down on the couch. Tom joins his wife on the couch opposite of him, staring down Adrien and wearing matching smiles, comforting and welcoming to him.

It's small and simple talk while they wait for Marinette to come on down, but Adrien feels at ease. No matter how long or short conversations run with the Dupain-Cheng’s, it’s always something he can’t help but enjoy. It’s nice, a quick reminder for Adrien as to how families should actually function.

Finally, he hears her steps grow closer and closer, each step down the staircase louder than the last. Adrien turns around in his seat, voice dropping open once he catches sight of her.

“Woah,” he lets out. He told her to dress up a bit in preparation for tonight but should’ve known an aspiring fashion designer like her would have turned a simple request like that into her very own fashion show. He admires her look with the eye of trained model, eyes scanning her outfit appreciatively.

Her hair falls down to reach her shoulders in small curls, pigtails gone for the night. Spaghetti straps start off the dress, with a V-line stopping just before it reaches the middle of her chest. Cutting into her waist before expanding out to a A-line skirt, the lower half comes to an end just beneath her knees. And the color, _oh_ the color Adrien notes, his teenage mind coming to a haze over the way it just pops against her pale and freckled skin. It’s red, a radiant and stunning version of the color that’s so strong he wouldn’t be surprised if she’s capped a supply of lust and sprinkled it over her dress.

The dress is beautiful. Stunning. Jaw-dropping. And, 100% Marinette. Adrien could name a dozen, maybe a hundred different designers and none could hold a candle to the intimate and personal feeling Marinette carries into this dress, nor the power she holds wearing her own work.

“Is it too much?” she asks, bringing a hand to brush a few strands of hair behind her ear.

“No, it’s perfect,” he says. “It’s… it’s an amazing outfit. You made this, right?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s been in my closet for a while, but I thought it would be good for tonight.”

“You look as amazing as a princess,” her father says, interrupting the two. “ _My_ princess.”

“Dad, you’re embarrassing me,” Marinette says. “Please tell me you didn’t tell Adrien anything too personal while I was getting ready.”

“Personal?” her mother says. “Of course not, Marinette. I hid all the baby photobooks after the last time Adrien showed up.”

“ _Last_ _time_?”

“Let’s get going, huh Marinette? We’ll run late if we don’t go now,” Adrien says. He stands up and gives his goodbyes to Marinette’s parents with promises to bring her home before it runs too late, then ushers her downstairs to the car.

“Where are we going?” Marinette asks as he opens the door to the car. She steps in, butterflies flying about in her stomach at the thought of actually being on a date with Adrien Agreste. And not only that, but Adrien Agreste, her _boyfriend_.

“It’s a surprise,” he says. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a thick piece of cloth. “Here, put this on when I tell you to. I don’t want you to figure out where we’re going until we’ve reached it.”

“Reached where?” she asks, holding the cloth in one hand. She turns her head to look out the window as they pass buildings, the night coming alive in the streets of Paris.

“Marinette, I’m not going to tell you. Not yet, anyways.”

 She huffs, a smirk on her face even so. It’s so like him to want to surprise her, Adrien probably having planned the entire night down to her last minute of curfew. Looking at the way he’s shifting in his seat, Marinette has the slightest idea that, dare she say it, Adrien is nervous?

“I can’t wait,” she tells him, resting a hand on top of his. He settles down some, moving his hand to fit into hers more. Marinette gives Adrien a grin, her cheeks burning at the closeness of the two and the snug atmosphere in the car.

Adrien smiles at her, cocks his head a little closer to her. He smiles first looking at her eyes, then spots the small bridge of freckles over her nose. Finally, he lets his eyes rest on her lips, gazing at them for what seems only a bit too long without any action.

He swallows, voice suddenly dry. Darting his eyes, he’s thankful for the dark lighting in the car, cheeks suddenly warm.

“You… you should put the blindfold on right now. I’ll let you know when we’re there.”

She carefully ties the cloth, fingers knotting it quickly. She lets her hands find Adrien’s, leaning into him as she gazes around the car blindly. He grasps her hands gently, grateful she can’t sense the blush forming.

“Wow, I really can’t see anything,” she lets out. “Promise you won’t let go until I have to take this off?”

“Promise.”

“Where are we going?” Marinette stumbles as she walks, finding it quite the challenge to walk in heels while blindfolded. She keeps her hold on Adrien, caring less for the blush on her face from the contact and preferring to focus on not falling over.

“Shh,” Adrien says, gripping onto her arms and helping lead her towards the entrance. They’re almost there. “You’ll ruin the surprise.”

“Can you at least tell me why I had to dress up like this for?”

“I would, he starts, “but it’ll ruin the surprise.” He slows his pace and stops her gently. “Okay, now you can take it off.”

“ _Finally_ ,” Marinette voices, and it’s with just the right amount of snark that makes Adrien get whiplash, because he’s just sure that sounds like something his Lady would say. He shakes it off. Today is about Marinette, about his _girlfriend_ , no matter the authenticity behind that word.

Marinette pulls off the blindfold, careful not to smudge her makeup or frizz up her hair. A soft gasp escapes her lips, a hand coming to softly cover her mouth. She takes a step back, making sure not to trip on the uneven road. Her eyes widen as she sees the theater before her.

“You took me to a musical?” she says, not believing her words.

“Alya told me you liked musicals,” Adrien says.

“More like love,” she murmurs out. “I can’t believe you did this. The tickets for this show are nearly impossible to get on short notice, even for nosebleed seats.”

“It’s a bit easier when you’re the son of Gabriel Agreste,” he says. He gestures to the steps leading to the theater. “Shall we?”

They climb the steps together, arms interlaced. As they enter, Marinette hears the _click_ of a camera and spots paparazzi hidden in the shadows, photographing the couple. When she looks towards them, more go off.

“Ignore them,” Adrien says as he shows their tickets. They begin walking down the hallway leading to the show. Lined up, more photographers stand. “They take pictures for everyone who walks in.”

“Must be some crowd that comes through,” Marinette comments.

“If you can get tickets here, you have to be someone special. Come on, let’s get seated before the show starts.”

Marinette grabs onto Adrien’s arm tighter, used to cameras but ones that weren’t as close to her, bright and blinding. She closes her eyes for a second, attempting to get rid of the spots.

“Marinette! Who are you wearing?” one yells out as she passes.

“This?” she asks, looking down at her dress. “Well, it’s- “

“Is it designer? A new Agreste?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” Adrien interrupts, flashing a polite smile to the cameras. “Marinette can tell you all about her design as soon as our show ends.”

“ _Her_ design?” one of the paparazzi interject, looking up from their camera. “There’s no way she made that.”

“What? Don’t you know who that is?” another comments. As they pass by, her drops his voice low to a whisper. “She won the Agreste hat competition _and_ designed Jagged Stone’s last album cover! Of _course_ she’d show up in her own work!”

“Talk about getting lucky. She’s like a gold mine in heels!”

“I bet we’ll be seeing a lot more of her, if Gabriel is smart enough to use her for his next collections.”

“You know, they aren’t as quiet as you’d assume they would be,” Marinette says, leaning her head to talk into Adrien’s ear. The usher opens the door and leads them down the aisle towards their seats, the lighting dimmer and plush carpet making Marinette’s steps a bit more careful.

“Paparazzi are loud. And nosy. We’re lucky they even attempted to lower their voices,” Adrien says, glad the doors closing behind them cut them off from the cameras. Inside, it was quieter, with hushed voices and the quick shimmer of long dresses and tailored suits.

“Speaking of lucky, look at these seats!” Marinette exclaims, before realizing the wave of people glancing in her direction. She blushes and turns to Adrien sheepishly. “I guess I need to work on being quieter.”

“Don’t mind them,” Adrien says, shuffling into the row and sitting down. “They’re all probably just in awe over you dress. Which, if I haven’t already told you, looks incredible.”

“You have,” Marinette says, cheeks warm as she settles down into her seat. “But thank you. Not only for the compliment, but… for all of this. I would have never thought a night like this could happen.”

Adrien fingers the bronze sign on the seat’s armrest, _Agreste_ labeled into it. These seats were reserved every season for the Agreste family, and there had been a time in his life where his father and mother did take him to shows, dressed him up in fine clothing and paraded him in front of the crowds. He had enjoyed it then, enjoyed the lights and questions and holding his parent’s hands, the nice scenery and songs that would play out onstage. And when Alya had mentioned the musical going on tonight, it took nearly every bone in his body to arrange for the tickets, to tell Nathalie where he was planning on going to for the night. Adrien had never pictured being back here after his mother left, seats untouched season after season, year after year. Until tonight.

He looks at Marinette, hair tucked behind her ears and eyes alight as she gazed around the room, stared at the dozens of starlets that walked around the room in designer dresses. Who’s hands lightly grasped the program for the night, careful not to bend the papers. Marinette, blending in so easily among Paris’ elite yet standing out on her own, with freckles bouncing off her and the sweet smell of freshly baked bread stuck on her skin.

“Anything for you, Marinette,” he says. She turns her head at the sound, eyebrows creased.

“What did you say?” she asks. “I couldn’t hear.”

“Oh, uh, nothing.” Adrien shifts in his seat. He makes an effort to look anywhere but in Marinette’s direction. “Let’s just get settled in and enjoy the show. Look, the lights are dimming.”

Marinette leans back in her chair. The crowd’s light hush falls away to a deep quiet, the only sound ringing through the theater the curtain opening up to show an exposed and decorated stage. Resting her arm on their shared armrest, Marinette turns her head to flash him a grin. He returns it, her smile contagious. When she turns her head back to the stage, her eyes light up with a shine he’s rarely seen on her. It’s magnificent, more entertaining than anything that could be onstage.

He really is lucky to have her, Adrien thinks. Whatever had started out as something to please his father, seemed like more, so much more than he had initially thought. It was comforting now, intimate and delicately structured, yet the two went along together better than nearly anyone Adrien had ever met in such a short span of time (his Lady the only exception). Adrien hadn’t thought with Marinette’s awkward nature around him that they would last very long as a faux couple, but now more than ever did he truly get an idea that perhaps, some of the details surrounding them weren’t artificial at all.

He rests his arm on the armrest, pulling back quickly when he realizes Marinette’s arm was already there. Carefully placing his hands in his lap, he whispers out a quick “Sorry”, which cheeks burning so hard he’s afraid he’ll light up the theater.

Marinette blinks, unsure how to act. She could pretend it had never happened and save Adrien the embarrassment.

Or, she could do something better.

Marinette lifts her arm up, eyes trained on the stage. Her hand searches for a brief moment before finding their target, resting her hand gently on Adrien’s knee. He stiffens at first, but then relaxes, his hand coming over to cover hers softly. Moving his thumb back and forth, he gently rubs the back of her hand.

Around them, the audience claps after the leading characters finish the opening number, thundering roars that quickly quiet down as they continue the first act. Their hands don’t budge, eyes trained only on the stage.

Well, except for a few darting looks every few minutes or so, eyes looking away quickly in the hopes of not being caught by the other, cheeks warmed yet unseen by the dark theater.

And that’s something special. Something very special, Marinette thinks. No matter how fake this relationship may be, her heart skips a beat with every look out of the corner of her eye. With every gentle reminder of his thumb, soothing her skin. She knows she should know better, that falling in love with him was a doomed story from the beginning, that she’ll never let him get the final tug and yank her heart away from her, that she should pull back before her heart gets ahead of her brain.

She knows this, yet her hand doesn’t move from his touch. Rather instead, she falls into it.


	3. closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adrien and marinette find out what's real, and what else could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before y'all yell about the long wait between this and last chapter keep in mind i didn't go over a month in updating and i find THAT very impressive since i took two weeks off writing to binge every season of inuyasha

“And then what happened?” Alya presses. Marinette swivels in her desk chair, turning her body around to face her best friend. She’s sketching up designs and telling about last night’s events to Alya, who’s laying down on the ground next to her, eating up all the details.

“And then… nothing.”

“ _Nothing_?” Alya questions, propping herself up some on her shoulders.

“Nothing,” Marinette repeats, twirling the pencil in her hand for emphasis. “The show ended, Gorilla drove me home, and we said goodbye.”

“Did he at least give a kiss goodnight?”

“Well, Adrien sort of waved at me, if that means anything.”

“That dick! I told him where to take you so you two would’ve had the perfect date!” Alya exclaims. Leaning forward, she gives Marinette a scowl. “I should’ve known you two needed more help than that.”

“It _was_ perfect!” she assures. Marinette turns away from Alya and sighs at her screensaver, Adrien’s smiling face staring back at her. “We held hands, and he called me pretty, and… it was more than anything I could’ve wanted.”

“Gosh, Adrien is _so_ lucky to have you as his girlfriend,” Alya says. “If Nino went that long without kissing me when we first started dating, I think I would’ve lost it. Like, truly lost it.”

“Well, it’s not like I _don’t_ want him to kiss me- ”

“Mari, I’m sure everyone knows that,” Alya quips.

“Shut up! You know what I mean,” she says, waving off her Alya’s teasing. Marinette stares at the picture before her, Adrien’s sweet and comforting face giving her the regular wave of butterflies. Along with it, the gentle reminder of their façade. He wouldn’t _really_ want to kiss her, no matter how hard he tries to fall into the role of boyfriend. She’s just his friend playing dress-up, telling Alya about their friendly outing last night and omitting details to save their necks.

“I think,” Marinette starts, trying to find the right thing to say, “I’m just too nervous? Maybe it’s throwing him off?”

“Listen to me Marinette. _Adrien’s_ the nervous one. Did you not notice the literal heart eyes he gave you all night? And the _incredible_ dress you wore? Oh gosh, I bet he’s beating himself up for not getting the courage to kiss you and- “

“Wait,” Marinette interrupts. “How do you know how he was like last night?”

“Do you have your phone muted or something?” Alya pulls out her phone, unlocking and typing something in her search bar. “I swear, it’s like sometimes you _try_ to hide under a rock. Look what appears when I just type ‘Adrien and Marinette’.”

A whole lot. 23,000 results, is what. Grabbing Alya’s phone, Marinette scrolls through the first page, seeing various articles from gossip tabloids to the culture section of Paris’ most renowned websites and newspapers.

“Oh my gosh. We’re on _Vogue_.”

“Hell yeah you two are on Vogue,” Alya says. “And look what the title says. ‘Adrien Agreste and Designer Girlfriend Spotted in Stunning Wear’. Vogue just addressed you as a fucking _designer_.”

Marinette scrolls quickly through the article, reading comments on her dress and a paragraph dedicated (dedicated!) to Marinette and what was known about her as a designer. Handing the phone back to Alya, she throws her hands over her face and lets out a shriek of joy.

“This is the best moment of my life,” she says. “I am never going to peak any higher.”

“You haven’t even seen the best of it. Look at these pictures. Can I just say I wouldn’t protest a French monarchy if my king and queen looked like _this_.”

On her screen, Adrien and Marinette are poised on top of the steps, exiting the theater. Hands locked together, each give a wave to the cameras. Alya isn’t sure how Adrien and Marinette could have kept their relationship such a secret for so long if Adrien looked at Marinette like _that_ every other second. Honestly, it gave a clear example of the term ‘puppy love’ to Alya, with big green eyes trained on her in nearly every picture taken. Marinette at least attempted to look at the cameras, key word _attempted_.

“You two look incredible,” she says to Marinette, who gingerly rests her fingers on the screen, as if a touch will make the picture disappear.

“Can you email me that?”

“What, new screensaver?” Alya asks, laughing.

“More like new _everything_ ,” Marinette says. She unlocks her computer and continues her search there, saving all the pictures she stumbles upon.

“I’d have thought once you two started dating you’d leave your fangirl life aside, but looks like it’s just a new era,” Alya comments, watching her friend frantically clicking away.

“Well, what’s so bad about being his biggest fan?” Marinette responds.

“Well, it makes moments when you’re hosting Jagged Stone in your house and he points out to all of Paris that you have an Adrien shrine in your room all the more embarrassing.” Marinette groans at Alya’s sentence, a wave of shame coming over her at the memory of that day.

“Listen, I didn’t know they were coming up my room that day. It was supposed to be strictly downstairs.”

“If you didn’t have so many posters of him, it would never have happened. Girl, you can look at Adrien’s face anytime you want now. You do remember you’re his girlfriend, right?”

_That’s the thing. I’m not._

“How can I forget?” Marinette asks, smiling at Alya.

“If you want to admire him so much, invite him out for a picnic or something. Is he free today?”

“He should be. Adrien said he didn’t have anything planned today except for his Mandarin lessons. And, it’s my turn for our next date anyways. I guess a picnic wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“Wait, you guys choose who does the next date?” Alya asks. “That shit is too cute.”

“Yeah, it’s a new thing we decided to do after, uh, going public. It’s hard to just head out together without people coming after us, so we try to work around it, plan ahead for this type of stuff.”

Alya laughs. Planning ahead? Adrien didn’t look like he had anything planned when he had come to her for help. If anything, he looked downright desperate. She would assume it was Marinette, a natural leader and excellent planner, who suggested their little date thing. If they were going to keep this up, she’d probably have to help Adrien out every other week. Alya was lucky she wasn’t only Marinette’s best friend but the only other person she trusted to help imagine various dates over the course of the several months they knew each other.

 _You_ _know_ , Alya thinks, _I could seriously start charging him for ideas._

“Well, make sure to tell me all about when one of you are planning the date! I wouldn’t want to ruin any plans,” she says to Marinette.

“Of course,” Marinette says, smiling. “But first, help me out with this picnic idea?”

“Got it. First things first, we’ve got the food practically sorted, if your parents are willing to part with some stuff from the bakery.”

“Trust me, they will. They love Adrien more than I do.”

“That’s hard to believe,” Alya laughs out. “Next, we’ll just grab a blanket and I’ll have Nino make sure that one nice part in the park is safe for you two to chill at.”

“Okay, sounds great.” Marinette reaches into her pocket, digging for her phone and clicking onto Adrien’s contact.

“Third of all- “

“Lower your voice, I’m calling him,” Marinette whispers, hearing the ringing on the other end.

Alya continues, voice the same as always. She picks herself off the floor and makes her way to Marinette’s closet. “-We need a smoking outfit for you. Listen, how short would you be willing to go? Because I know you have some cute shorts somewhere in here.”

“Uh, mid-thigh?” Marinette offers. “I don’t know, I just shaved yesterday but I think my leg hair’s already growing- “

“Hello? Marinette?” Adrien asks. “What were you just saying?”

“Adrien! Uh, don’t pay attention to that. I was just talking to Alya.”

“Hi Adrien!” Alya yells, carrying a small stack of clothes she’s thrown over one shoulder. “Quick, put him on speaker!”

Marinette does so.

“How was your lesson?” she asks, setting the phone on the desk.

“Great! Well, as great as it can get. Over fifty thousand characters, and I still have trouble sometimes just writing ‘tree’,” Adrien says, laughing at the end of his sentence. “But, what about you? How’s your day been so far?”

“It’s been fine,” she says. “My feet hurt a bit from the heels I wore last night, but it was well worth it for how much fun I had.”

“Really? I’m… I’m so happy to hear that.” Adrien clears his throat. “You know, I can’t wait to see you again.”

“Actually, about that... Are you free later today? I kinda have something planned.” Marinette turns to Alya, watching as she sorts through the clothes in her arms.

“Really? Is it like… a you know…”

“Yeah, it kinda is.”

“Oh…” Adrien says, unable to hide the happiness in his voice at the confirmation that yes, it is _that_. Setting the phone down and hitting speaker, he jumps up from his bed and fist bumps the air, drawing a long, hard stare from Plagg.

“Adrien? Are you still there?” Marinette asks.

“Yes! Yes I am! I mean… I am free. And, I’d love to hang out later,” Adrien rushes out, bringing the phone to his ear again. He knows he probably sounds too eager, but at this moment, he doesn’t care. A date! With Marinette! That she asked him out on!

Across the room from him, Plagg eyes him, confused at how… _happy_ Adrien is.

“That’s great! Want to meet up in an hour or so?”

“Sure! Where at?”

“Come by my place? It’ll be a surprise.”

“Oh, so you’re pulling that card?” Adrien asks, smiling at the way she turned the tables.

“Straight out of the Agreste book,” Marinette says, laughing. She leans forward, tracing the scratches in her desk with her finger.

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay,” Marinette says.

Neither try to hang up.

“Well… bye.”

“Bye, Adrien,” she tells him.

“Bye,” Adrien repeats, prompting a giggle from Marinette.

“Bye!” Alya calls out. “Marinette, hang up and come over here! I wanna see how your ass looks in these shorts!”

Marinette hangs up quickly, fingers not moving fast enough to block out Alya’s comment.

On the other end of the phone, Adrien smiles at his phone, trying desperately to not burst out in laughter. Across the room, Plagg narrows his eyes. He hasn’t seen Adrien this happy since he found out Chat Noir and Ladybug kissed.

“He totally heard you talk about my ass,” Marinette says to Alya.

“It’s a good ass, for what it’s worth. She deserves to be recognized.”

“She?”

“Your ass,” Alya clarifies. “And, I _had_ to do something. You guys were all ‘No _, you_ hang up’ on each other.”

“No, we weren’t.”

“Yes, you were. It was cute at first, but really, just kiss already,” Alya beckons her to come closer. “Anyways, look at what I put together for you!”

“You’re incredible,” Marinette says, getting up even so and making her way to Alya.

“Was that a touch of sarcasm I hear, Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“No, not at all.”

Alya laughs, handing Marinette the outfit she’s arranged. A soft pair of high-waisted shorts, paired with a low V-neck tee Marinette bought once at a sale and hid in the back of her closet. “Shut up and put this on. You’re gonna look hot.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“Sweetie, I _know_ so. Now, if you let me put just a little bit of makeup on you, and maybe if we did your hair a little different- “

“Let’s not go crazy,” Marinette says. “Why don’t I just change now, and then we prep for the picnic? I still need to gather food, and you need to get Nino to head over to the park.”

“You know, maybe getting those things out of the way first is the best route with the time we’re up against.” Alya pulls out her phone and begins texting Nino, eyes flickering upwards every few seconds to make sure Marinette is pulling on the outfit.

“Oh!” Marinette exclaims, looking down at the bundle of clothes in her hands. “You want me to put this on now?”

Alya looks over her glasses, casting her best friend a glare. Marinette quickly rushes out of her clothes, slinging them on her desk chair and pulling on the new outfit. It fits nice, and as Marinette shimmies into the outfit, she can feel the tags pressing against her skin, telling her just how often she’s worn these pieces of wardrobe. She rips them off, careful not to tug so hard to not tear the fabric.

“Are you sure this looks good?” Marinette asks, smoothing the top down. Turning to look in the mirror, she runs her fingers over the bottom of the shirt, wondering if it’d look better tucked into the high-waisted shorts.

“You’re kidding right?” Alya asks, setting down her phone for a second to cast a nice and long ‘friendly’ look at her friend. “Marinette, pardon my language but _damn,_ do you look nice.”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re my best friend.”

“I’m saying it because I am your _bi_ best friend,” Alya corrects. “I’m offering the opinion you _need_ to hear.”

“Haha, very funny.” Marinette brings a hand to her hair, pulling off the hair-ties to her pigtails and throwing her hair upwards into a bun. “You think my hair would look good up today?”

“Personally, I’m fine with any other hairstyle so long as I don’t have to see that middle part,” Alya says, ducking when Marinette throws a pillow at her.

“Come on!” she exclaims, catching the next one Marinette throws and tossing it back. “You’re an aspiring fashion designer! Space buns! A braid! Something! _Anything_ other than those pigtails!”

“They’re cute!” Marinette defends, having gone through this talk time and time again with Alya. Yes, she _knows_ the pigtails are boring and overdone and Marinette wishes nothing more than to spice it up a bit more, but when you live a double life as a superhero, Marinette finds it necessary to always be ready for her alter ego, even if that means her hair has to suffer.

“Your hair is crying for a change!”

“They look nice!”

“Dry spilt ends don’t!”

“We’re not having this talk again,” Marinette says, arm dropping from throwing another pillow. “I know my pigtails aren’t the best, but they are staying.”

“One of these days,” Alya promises as she sits back down, finger pointed at Marinette. “One of these days I am making you keep it down for an entire day, even if I die trying.”

“Good luck trying. Let’s move on,” Marinette says, knowing Alya could stay on this topic for _hours_ unless she intervened now. “Did Nino ever respond?”

“Oh shit, I almost forgot about that!” Alya grabs her phone, reading the new messages she got. “Nino said he can be there in a half hour, and if we get him a box of tarts, he’s willing to lay down a picnic blanket for you.”

“Consider it done,” Marinette says, walking over to her jewelry box and finding a nice necklace that helps show off her exposed chest. “Tell him I’ll make the tarts myself if I have to.”

“Nino just said he’ll be at the park in fifteen.” Alya stands up, gazing approvingly at Marinette. “You look great! Not too much, but not too little for a date in the park.”

“Hopefully paparazzi won’t be staking out our date,” Marinette says. “I don’t think this look is what they imagined Adrien’s ‘designer girlfriend’ would wear.”

“No, but that ass surely is.”

“Alya!”

“I’m just saying what the people are thinking!” Alya says, defending herself. “Seriously, how does lifting sacks of flour and running to class late help tone your body _that_ good?”

Marinette freezes, trying to find something to say other than running on rooftops and scaling buildings.

“I take the stairs?” she lets out, wondering how well that lie will fly.

“The stairs?” Alya repeats. “You need to show me what kind of stairs you’re climbing, because sweetie, I need to join you one of these days while you work out.”

“Sure thing!” Marinette says, knowing neither of them will hold onto that promise. Marinette knows more than anyone being a superhero drains much of your energy out, and Rena Rogue’s reign has long since wiped Alya out of many of her usual activities in favor of long naps and even longer baths. Alya grabs her bag, digging in for her lipgloss.

“Put this on,” she says, handing the tube to Marinette. “I’m gonna head downstairs and ask your mom if she can help me pick out some treats for the picnic.”

“Ask if she can put extra croissants in there. Adrien loves them,” Marinette says, opening the tube and running it over her lips. She looks into the mirror and smacks her lips together, hoping she didn’t put too much on.

“I will,” she says, already making her way down the ladder. She looks at Marinette and catches her gaze in the mirror’s reflection, nodding approvingly.

“Adrien is gonna lose his mind over you.”

\--

“Do you think I should show up to see Chat tonight?” Marinette asks, placing her head in her hands and elbows on top of her thighs. She’s seated on a blanket she grabbed in a rush, a variety of pastries fresh out the oven decorating the piece of cloth and a basket stocked well with drinks for the two of them. Alya and Nino promptly left her after approving the scene, both hard at work to make sure it was “date material” and leaving her alone, or so they had assumed.

Tikki looked up at her, tiny hands clutching onto a cookie. “You two have patrol tonight, right?” she asks, crumbs falling out of her mouth to fall and dot the blanket under her.

“Yeah, but it’s going to be a bit longer than usual. Jagged Stone’s in the city, and he personally asked if we could watch the hotel he’s at in case any fans try to come in. It’s only a few hours, just until he’s gotten his crocodile to go to sleep.” Marinette shifts a bit, leaning forward a bit. “I was thinking… should I let him know I’m dating someone?”

“Dating?” Tikki blinks at her holder. “Did something change between you and Adrien that I don’t know about?”

“No, no, nothing like that! It’s just… things are different now, right? Like, I just don’t think I can keep up with that silly cat’s flirts if I’m technically seeing someone now. It’s like minor cheating, right?”

“I wouldn’t call it cheating.”

“But, don’t you think it’d be rude at least, on some level? I wouldn’t want to be accidentally leading him on.”

“Marinette, you really think you haven’t been leading Chat Noir on? Did that date he planned out and you didn’t show up to not inform you then?” Tikki asks.

“Oh!” Marinette exclaims, bringing one of her hands to cover her mouth as she dug around in her memory.  “I almost forgot about that.”

“ _Almost_?” Tikki sets the cookie down and eyes her seriously, unbelieving how her holder could forget what Tikki always saw as Chat Noir’s first real love declaration. Maybe Marinette should sit down and tell Chat about dating Adrien, no matter what came out of it. Although, it’d save them a whole lot of unnecessary conflict if Tikki could just tell Marinette who hid behind the mask and cat ears.

Marinette picked up a croissant, picking at the top. “Maybe he’ll understand. I don’t take him for the jealous type.”

“Who knows,” Tikki says, scanning the area in search of Adrien. “Maybe he’s even dating someone.”

“ _Dating_? That silly cat?” Marinette laughed. “I would love to see the person who’s putting up with all his puns.”

Tikki snorted, hiding behind the cookie as she takes another bite to fill her mouth. If only she knew…

Marinette cranes her head back, hearing the approaching footsteps of someone behind her. Tikki abandons her cookie and hides in the open handbag Marinette has, hiding from any eyes and getting ready for a well-deserved nap. Faintly, Tikki feels a presence near her, the familiar and comforting arrival of a holder and their kwami.

“Marinette!” Adrien exclaims, extending a hand to help her up. She accepts, standing and brushing off crumbs. “I hope you didn’t wait too long.”

She waves his worries off, smiling and basking in the cool shade with him. “It wasn’t that long, only a few minutes at most.”

“I got you flowers,” he says, arm moving from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of flowers, the colors sprouting memories of faint blushes and dramatic sunsets. She reaches out to gently take it, bringing the flowers up to her face for a sniff.

“You didn’t have to,” she says, hiding her face behind the flowers to try and find the color rushing to her cheeks.

“No, I guess I didn’t,” Adrien says, ducking his head and grinning. “But, I wanted to.”

“You’re too much,” Marinette says, unable to hide her grin.

“Maybe just a little.” He looks down, catches sight of the food before them and gazes back at Marinette. “Is this for us?”

She brushes a stray hair back and tucks it behind her ear. “Well, it’s for you. I know it’s not much for a date, but let’s sit down and eat a bit, huh? You can tell me some more about your lesson today.”

“I’d like that a lot. And, maybe you can help tell me a bit about how Alya ended that phone call earlier,” Adrien says, teasing her at the end. She rolls her eyes, sitting down on the blanket and patting the spot next to him. He takes a seat next to her, struggling to lose the grin on his face.

Adrien’s never been so happy. A nice day in the park, a picnic laid out for the two of them, and Marinette smiling at him with those cute freckles dotting her nose. The sunlight shines through the leaves above them, leaving small dots of sunshine on her body. When he glances at the way the light dances on her, he takes note of a small necklace glinting on her chest, a tiny charm on it.

“I like your necklace,” he says, hand reaching out to grab a croissant. He bites into it, feeling the bread break in his mouth. Marinette looks down, bringing a hand over the charm so to cover it a bit. She turns it around so he won’t spot what the charm is. She had almost forgotten that Chat had given it to her as a gift last month, slinging it on without thought as a nice touch to the shorts and shirt.

“Thanks. It… it was a gift from someone.”

“I hope not any competition,” Adrien jokes.

“Yeah, right,” she says, laughing. “Trust me, he’s not any competition.”

“He?” Adrien blinks. A mystery friend?

“What, I can’t have guy friends?” she questions, arching a brow.

Adrien flushes bright red. “Of course, you can! I just didn’t know about this guy. How is he like? Is he funny?”

Marinette smirks, ready to tease him. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re _jealous_.”

“Of course not.” Adrien points the rest of his croissant in her face, flexing his arms a bit as he continues. “I don’t know if you know this but… I’m Adrien Agreste.”

Marinette feigns surprise, clapping a hand over her mouth.

“Oh? You’re _that_ Adrien Agreste? Now that I think about it, you two do look very similar. Not that I would know, of course.”

“Really? Because I could have sworn I saw a poster or two in your room the other day.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Marinette says this with her voice high and face turned towards him so as to cement her sentence.

“I don’t?” Adrien asks, laughter breaking out.

“No, you don’t. Not at all.”

“Hmm. I think you’re wrong.”

“Do you? Well, I happen to think I’m very much right.”

“And? How do you think you’re going to convince me on that?”

“I’ll find a way. I always do.”

Marinette’s noticed they’ve gotten quite close as they talked, each quick response from the other bringing the distance between their faces smaller and smaller. She can just see the small crumbs dotting a path on his lips, giving Adrien an even more angelic look. She blushes, and quickly pulls back from him, Marinette desperate for a change. Reaching into the basket, she fumbles around blindly before she pulls out two drinks, opening one and taking a long swing. Marinette hands the other to Adrien, who holds it in his hands to cool them down a bit.

Consider maybe the weather a factor, but he could have sworn his hands were getting sweaty. Were hands supposed to get sweaty on dates? He didn’t think they had been so sweaty last night, but now, all alone with her, Adrien felt different, felt a small tingling rise up in his stomach the longer he looked at her, the more he observed and stared and talked. Maybe something changed overnight? Something that explained the burst of joy in his throat whenever he looked at her, or the way he had almost skipped on his way to the park, ignoring the car waiting outside his house. The reason behind his want to buy her flowers, choosing the long route just to reach the city’s most popular florist and buying the nicest bouquet they had to offer.

It was something, but Adrien didn’t see it just yet.

“Hey, is that a camera?” Marinette asks, eyes squinting and body leaning forward to catch a better look. If she’s not mistaken, there was the glint of a lens coming from one of the bushes near the fountain. Adrien turns, looking over there as well and taking the moment to wipe his hands on his jeans.

“You know, I think that is one,” he says, catching sight of the object he had spent plenty of days looking into. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he calls out to them.

“Hey!”

The bushes shake, leaves falling out as the person inside shoves the camera into the bushes. Only a moment later though, the camera pops back out, a burst of clicks going off.

“Hopefully that’s just the one,” Adrien says, running his hands through his hair. It messes it up a bit, the regularly tamed locks ruffled and curls in every which way. It suits him a bit, Marinette thinks, a slight change from the everyday styled look his father and stylists demand of him, yet one that worked. She wondered how it’d feel to run her hands in his hair, if it’d feel soft or perhaps dried out from the products Adrien’s mentioned they make him throw on at some of his shoots. Subconsciously, one of her hands twitch, all too familiar with feeling Chat’s hair that a small part in her craves to touch.

“Probably not,” Marinette comments, placing her hands in her lap to stop any urges. “If they have to hide in the bushes near us, there’s probably a dozen more taking up all the good spots.”

“You know, Marinette, I’m sorry about this,” Adrien apologizes, knowing how troubling this spotlight will be for Marinette from now on. He sighs. “If it wasn’t for me, we wouldn’t have to worry about all these cameras going off during our date.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like this is a real date, right?” she comments, waving off his worries. Her heart hurts at the reminder, but she conceals it with a well-meaning smile.

“Wait. Isn’t it?” Adrien asks. He turns to her, unsure at what she means.

Marinette blinks, setting the cookie down on her lap. _Is it?_

“Well, I just… we’re still fake dating, right?” she asks, dropping her voice at the end of the sentence so any passerby won’t hear.

Adrien stays silent, unsure how to answer a question that which seemed easy to answer only a short while back now seemed so loaded, so hard to face.

“Aren’t we?” she asks once more, pressing him.

Adrien looks at her, trying to spot any emotion in her face and catching no expression. She just stares at him, waiting for what he’ll say next. He looks off, eyes catching the lens of several more cameras in the area. He feels dumb for not noticing earlier. They all watch their movements, ready for the slightest change in the atmosphere. He worries. Was it the best idea to bring this up now, with all eyes on them and not an answer in sight?

“I don’t know. Are we?” Adrien asks, more so to himself.

Marinette feels her face grow warm, eyes looking at Adrien and heart pounding. Oh, how her heart yearns for more, for the prospect of actually dating to be on the table. Could it be that now, it actually is? Is she ready for this talk? She has definitely dreamt about it plenty of times before, but wow, did she not expect it to come so soon. And, did she not expect Adrien to bring it up in the middle of a picnic surrounded by little bugs and soft sunlight and _paparazzi_ of all things.

“I-I don’t know,” she answers honestly, stuttering and unsure around him for the first time in a long time. “If we’re being honest though… I wanted to think that yesterday was a d-date. I don’t think I could think of it as anything other than that.”

“So did I. I liked it a lot. I really had fun. And, I’m having fun now. With you,” Adrien admits, moving a hand to scratch behind his neck.

“That’s… that’s really nice to hear,” Marinette says. She looks at him and beams, smile so wide it almost hurts. “I like that.”

“Good. I like… I like that too.”

Marinette turns her head, feeling the heat burn on her cheeks. She doesn’t know what to say to change the subject, and she doesn’t quite know if she wants to yet. She sets one hand down between them, and wonders if maybe, just maybe, a hand will reach out to grasp at it and give her the answer she wants to hear next.

“What are we then?” she asks, forcing a voice out once she feels the pressure of Tikki nudging her through the bag. She keeps her eyes trained elsewhere. “A-Are we fake dating, or real dating, or… _something_ _else_?”

“We’re…” Adrien trails off, wondering on what they classify as. Not friends, nor an actual couple. Still, there’s something real in them, something familiar and comforting. An air in the room that doesn’t seem so forced now, not so much for the cameras as it is for the two of them. Something he doesn’t want to lose with Marinette, especially not now that he’s talked in the open with her. Not when he knows that Marinette likes him, and that here’s a chance for something in his life that he might not get ever again.

“We’re us,” Adrien declares finally. “For now, we’ll just be that.”

“Us?”

“Us. No real labels until we know that we’re ready, and we know that’s what we want. We’ll tell each other when something real is happening between us, and if something’s fake in case people are watching.”

“And, you’re okay with that? You don’t feel forced? You aren’t just saying that because you don’t want to disappoint your father?” she asks, brows creasing. Her heart pounds intensely. She can almost not believe what he’s saying right now, if on some level it counts as a confession of sorts. Worriedly, she wonders if she’s sweat too much, leaving any marks seeable through her shirt.

“No. I mean it. Really,” Adrien says, voice firm and little doubt in his mind about this. He looks at her, catching the small formation of natural rouge on her cheeks.

 _Marinette really is beautiful_ , he thinks, watching the color bloom and stand out against her pale skin, the dark freckles contrasting. There’s something extremely special about her, something he hadn’t quite noticed until now, until he got to sit down and talk and finally find the _true_ Marinette, the Marinette that left a warmth in him that he couldn’t compare to much, that he wished he could cling onto forever and ever.

“You make me feel happy,” Adrien starts, “And I like that. I don’t really want to lose that anytime soon, so I’m glad I can enjoy this.”

“Adrien…” Marinette trails off, finding her brain stumbling around and struggling to find an answer. She looks at him with stars in her eyes, and feels a warmth spreading through her body, a pure joy she’s felt only when she had yelled out her first Miraculous Ladybug. Marinette decides to not talk at all, choosing to just eat her cookie as a distraction. She almost chokes when she feels a hand cover the one she placed down, shock running through as she registers it as Adrien’s. She feels his smooth hand cover hers completely, resting on top of it gently.

“These croissants are really good. Did your dad make them?” he asks, seemingly unaware of Marinette’s heart trying to jump out of her chest, or if he is aware, doing a fine job of acting like he doesn’t notice. She trains her eye on the cameras, trying to see if looking away will calm her down a bit as she answers.

“Um, my mom actually,” she starts, finding a photographer hiding behind a tree to focus on. She smiles, hoping to at least get a good picture out of her current state. “She likes adding extra spices in them to make them taste a little different from his.”

“That’s amazing! Do you do anything like that when you bake?”

“Well, my dad told me a secret once on how to make something my own,” she says. Adrien’s fingers dance on top of hers, tapping out a rhythm she notes must be a piano piece of some sort, she guesses something sweet.

“Care to share?” he presses her.

“Of course.” Marinette smiles, the taps tickling her hand a bit. She giggles, glancing at him. “Little bit of cinnamon, little bit of sugar. Lots of love.”

Adrien looks at her, watching her eyelashes just almost touch her bangs with every blink. “It sounds like the perfect touch.”

“Is it.” Marinette shifts her body a bit, closer to him so their hands will fit more snugly. “I’ll have to show you how to bake with it sometime.”

“That sounds great.” He moves his hand away, touch starved for something more. Lifting his arm, he scoots in a bit more and slings it over Marinette, bringing her close to his body. Through the shirt he’s wearing, Marinette can feel strong muscle underneath, probably from all the years of fencing he’s done.

“This is real,” he tells her, as the dozens of cameras around them come to life, the sound of clicks beginning to rise in volume.

She blinks, glancing upwards to look at him. Adrien’s eating with his free hand, never ending with his attack on the pastries. He looks down at her face and smiles when they catch eyes, Marinette seeing a certain shine arise in his green eyes that he’s never quite seen before.

This is _real_ , she realizes, something Adrien chose to do out of his own mind, and not something sprung onto him or forced in the moment.

With a burst of confidence, she leans more into him, little hesitation holding her back as she snuggles into his frame and relaxes. He shifts his hold on her from her shoulders to her waist, bringing them even closer together. Marinette closes her eyes, focusing on the rise and fall in his breathing. They eventually sync up, hearts moving in tandem with the wind and with each other.

“This is real,” she tells him, eyes darting open briefly to catch another glimpse of him.

Adrien ducks his head from her line of sight, unable to look at her face any longer without fear of his heart going out. She’s like a drug, clouding his mind and putting him in a sweet haze. She really is, and Adrien knows that he wants nothing more than to hold her there forever, keep the high going as long as he can. Instead, a sharp reminder of the cameras focused on him keeps his mind focused, making sure he won’t cause a scene, create the beginning of a scandal.

He brings his head up once more, darting his eyes from Marinette to the sky, and tapping his fingers softly on her. She hums a bit, shifting every now and then but never opening her eyes, the gentle hum rising from her the only sign she’s even awake.

 _This is real_ , Adrien thinks. _This is real, and it’s nice._

\--

“I had fun today,” Marinette says, hand grasping tightly to the basket and the blanket thrown over her shoulders. They’ve walked the short distance back to her house, and Marinette’s just about to run inside and drop off her belongings before bidding Adrien a goodbye.

“I had fun too,” Adrien says. He’s holding her bouquet, gesturing to them as she’s about to enter her house. Grabbing the bundle as well, she quickly ducks inside, promising a quick return. Adrien stands by the door, hearing the voices rise in volume inside as she enters. He identifies it as her mother and father, with Marinette’s voice joining the mix. It’s too muffled to hear exactly what’s being said, but he does get a sense of his name being spoken a few times. He can hear footsteps quickly coming, with Marinette popping out of the door almost as fast as she had entered and closing the door tightly behind her.

“They loved the flowers,” she says, slightly out of breath. Adrien sees a jacket slung over her arm and wondered if she climbed the stairs quickly in order to grab it. “I would have asked you to come inside, but you know how much my parents love you.”

“That they do.”

“Honestly, it’s like they like you more than _I_ like you,” Marinette says, snorting. She starts to throw on the jacket, one arm already in before she pauses, realizing what she said.

“Oh really?” Adrien asks. He laughs a bit as he sees her face flush, the jacket suddenly very hard for her to throw on as her teasing demeanor disappears.

“W-Well, you know what I mean,” she stutters, looking down and struggling to zip up the jacket. Her fingers fumble with the zipper, unable to pull it up on the first try. Then the second. Then the third.

“Do I? Was that real, _Miss_ Dupain-Cheng?”

“Oh, shut up,” she says, finally getting the zipper right. She pulls it up, then looks at Adrien with her cheeks red and an undeniable stubbornness to pretend what she said hadn’t happened. “You know that answer.”

“Which is…?”

She sighs. God, did she hate how he gave her that stupidly cute look, smug smile on his face and body leaning ever so slightly to get down to her height. It was dumb and teasing and Marinette just _knew_ he wouldn’t let go of this unless she gave him what he wanted, which were currently the words he wanted to hear.

“Yes, it was real.” She sighs once more, scrunching up her nose in distaste at having to admit it. Her cheeks still burn, something Adrien takes extra joy in as he lets out a burst of laughter.

“Are you happy now, _Monsieur_ Agreste?” she asks him, crossing her arms.

“A little. I’d be even more happy if you walked me home though.”

Marinette laughs. He’s so forward all of a sudden, something Marinette hadn’t assumed would come out of a guy like him. She decides to take his flirt the same way she’d take one of Chat’s, otherwise Marinette would probably explode once she processes his sentence.

“Oh? And then what? I can’t just assume your requests will end here, right?” she challenges him, placing both hands on her hips. She stands a bit straighter, wishing he hadn’t gotten so tall over the past months.

“Well, there’s really no telling what else I might need.”

“Like what??

“Well,” Adrien starts, bringing his hands to rest on Marinette’s shoulders. He grabs her hoodie and pulls it up, the long hood covering her bun and falling down to cover half of her face, casting her in a temporary darkness. “Why don’t we race and see who’ll reach there first, then find out?”

Without a response from Marinette, he starts off, feet pounding the pavement and a quick laugh as he looks at Marinette, who fumbles with taking off the hood and following him. She stumbles a bit as she starts, taken by surprise by Adrien’s deceitful start.

“Adrien! You’re a cheater!” she yells out, quickening her pace to at least equal him. She manages to do so, hours spent running on end lending a great hand in catching up with his athletic body. It also gives great help in getting around the city, Marinette setting her sights on the quickest route (which Adrien decides to follow as well). They throw banter at each other as they run, their pace in tune with the other even as they dodge passerby and obstacles, as if they had ran side by side together before.

“That’s as fast as you can go?”

“It’s all about pacing, _ma_ _cherie_.”

“Oh really? Sounds to me like you’re just a slow runner, Adrien.”

“We’re going the same pace!”

“I think I’m just a _little_ faster.”

“Yeah right! I’m sure _I’m_ \- look out, there’s a food stand in front of you!”

“ _You_ look out! You’re gonna run into a lamppost, and I am _not_ taking the fall for you when your dad asks what happened.”

“There’s got to be something way worse than a lamppost before I go down.”

“Yeah, Adrien. _Two_ lampposts.”

They finally reach his house, feet slowing to a stop and each one stopping in front of the gate leading to the house. Adrien takes deep breathes of air, punching in the code and watching as the gate begins to swing open.

“You know,” Marinette wheezes out, hands on her knees, “I think I won.”

“You won?” Adrien coughs out, stepping wearily into his house’s yard. Marinette follows him, regretting having the jacket on as she ran. She unzips and takes it off, bringing a hand to tug at the bottom of her shirt in an effort to cool down her torso.

“Yeah,” she says. “I think I got here first.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Adrien tells her, pointing a tired finger. “I… I got here first, and that’s a fact.”

“Where’s your proof?”

“These cameras! I bet you anything that these cameras will say I won fair and square?”

“Anything?” she asks, arching a brow.

“Yep, anything. Say… how about a kiss?”

Marinette nearly trips. She catches her footing just in time, balancing herself and trying to stay calm.

_A kiss? A kiss??? A kiss!!!_

“A kiss?” she repeats, smacking her lips which suddenly seem dry. “W-What are you suggesting here?”

“If I really won, I get a kiss. If not, you’ll decide what you get. But, only if you’re okay with that,” he says. Adrien blushes, mad that his mind would fool him so much as to suggest a kiss, of all things, to Marinette. He is a fool, a dummy, a big stupid head, and he will never forgive his mouth and might just up and die if Marinette decides that _no, nah buddy, I’m fine without that._

“You’re a dummy,” she lets out, shaking her head. Marinette’s bright red from her ears down to her toes, and she can’t believe she’s able to speak to him, much less call the actual love of her life a dummy.

“Okay,” she agrees. “Show me that you’re right, and we’ll kiss. And if you’re wrong… you’ll take me to see Jagged Stone next week.”

It’s a win-win either way. A kiss from Adrien, or a date with Adrien to her favorite artist. And, even if he does win, she’s had some tickets given to her from Jagged himself.

He goes to the touch screen he used to open the gates, tapping around until he finds the gallery section. Pulling up all recent recordings, Adrien finds the most recent video and gestures for Marinette to look.

“Look!” he exclaims, rewinding back. “If you look right here, you’ll clearly see that _I_ was the one to get here first- “

He stops. Watching intensely, he can clearly see Marinette reach the frame of the camera first, followed by himself only a few seconds later.

“What were you saying?” she asks, crossing her arms smugly and looking over her shoulder to smirk at Adrien.

He sticks his tongue out at her, closing the tab and leaving the screen to its previous position.

“So maybe I was wrong,” he says. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” she says, accepting it with glee. “And to think, you even had a head start, you cheater.”

“Okay, maybe a slight one. _But_ , in my defense, I think these jeans got in the way of my running.”

“Excuses, excuses!” Marinette says, laughing at Adrien try to defend his loss. She comes close to him and ruffles his hair, messing it up even further than what it was already.

 _Soft_ , she notes. _Just like Chat’s._

“I can’t believe I lost,” he sulks.

“You didn’t lose,” Marinette comforts, abandoning her celebration to soothe him. “Think about it! You just landed a date with the biggest Jagged Stone fan in the city!”

“Yeah…” he sighs out. “Still, if only I had been a little quicker.”

“What, and win my kiss?” Marinette gently shoves him, getting a smile out of him. “You’ll get your kiss eventually, silly ca- silly guy.”

Adrien perks at the end of her sentence, almost having heard Ladybug’s almost iconic catchphrase for him. With a jolt, he remembers the patrol for tonight with her, the sky’s shades turning from the beautiful blue they had their picnic in changing into a soft blend of cotton candy and tangerines.

“It’s getting late,” he says, gazing at the sunset with Marinette. He looks at her, touching her arm for her attention. “Do you think you’ll get home before it gets dark?”

“Of course,” Marinette assures him, taking his hand into hers and patting it softly before pulling back. She takes out her now ruined bun and tosses it into a quick ponytail, prepping her body for the run back. “I’ll make sure to text you the moment I get home, just so you’ll be extra sure I’m safe and sound.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” She smiles at him as she starts walking out, the gates swinging closed behind her. “That’s real.”

“Good.” Adrien watches as she leaves, waiting until he can’t see her anymore before he walks up the steps to his house. Swinging open the door, he finds his mind abuzz with the day, and prepping for the night he has ahead of him.

Marinette’s feet pound the pavement, each step bringing her closer to home and closer to her patrol. It’s getting late, having stayed out with Adrien way longer than she had thought she would have. Yet, she doesn’t mind at all for it, wishing the day didn’t have to end. Tikki, at home, is probably just now waking up from her nap and ready to talk to Marinette about her date, and the conversation she had with Adrien earlier. Marinette herself yearns for Tikki to be with her right now to talk to, to try and understand even a little bit of what sort of thing she and Adrien have.

Even so, she has a duty, one that needs her full focus on. And with that, comes a need to be honest with her partner, if only to protect him from potential heartbreak.

Her feet pound on the ground even harder than before, Marinette with a plan now, with a mission that needs to be carried out. If not for her, than for her _chaton_.

Unbeknownst to her, her _chaton_ is thinking of doing the same thing.


	4. love call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ladybug and chat have a talk. adrien finds out something. marinette doesn't know what to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhh,,,, yes it's been a min. but um enjoy? (i really hope the long amt of words will make up for the wait jsjsk)

Marinette was scared. Sure, she had been nervous, anxious, even a little bit frightened once or twice, but she had never felt scared, truly scared like she did now. She felt every bone in her body shudder while her mind ran wild, had a chill in her spine that forced her to stand up straighter, to ball up her fists and shift from one foot to the other, transferring her weight like at any moment someone could throw her off balance.

It was hard, she realized, to come forward and be truthful. To share something about herself that she had kept hidden before, and stand to face judgement in whichever form that came in. She had faced many things, but not this.  

Marinette stood there, with the cool Parisian air whipping her pigtails onto her face. She stood there, waiting and watching for the familiar black figure to kept onto rooftops and through the night, headed straight for her. She stood there, and braced herself. Finally, she spots him, his figure jumping from a lower building.

She shifts once more, and sees him grow bigger.

“Hey Chat,” she tells him, watching as he sticks a near-perfect landing onto the balcony below her. They chose a closed down apartment complex as their beginning spot for patrol, straight into the heart of the most crime-ridden district, and a nice enclosed space they could hide out and talk without peeping eyes.

“Hey,” he says, gazing up at her. Chat pats down the front of his suit, something Marinette picks up immediately. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was just as nervous as her. Even more, his usual form of affection isn’t at his lips. “Should we start the patrol now?”

“Not yet,” she says, jumping down and landing next to him. She looks up and bites her lip, wondering just how to get her thoughts clear. “I uh… I have something I need to say.”

“Me too,” he tells her.

“You do?” she asks, eyes widening and looking at her masked partner.

“Yeah. I do.” Chat looks down, waiting for her to begin talking first. When she continues to stand there, looking back at him and not making any movement to speak, Chat takes it as his place to talk. He opens his mouth and says something Marinette had never thought to hear from him.

“I’m dating someone.”

The words come out clear and loud, but Marinette still needs a moment to fully process it. What he truly means. She blinks and takes a step backwards, feeling the balcony’s railing dig into her back and give and gentle reminder just where exactly she’s standing. She straightens her posture and gives him an unsure look.

“You’re… you’re dating someone?” she asks, letting out the words in a tone that she doesn’t want to admit is shock, but undeniably is.

He nods.

“Pretty shocking, right?” Chat laughs, shaking his head. “You’re probably thinking what poor girl ended up with such a silly cat like me.”

“You know that’s not true,” she says, rising quickly to his own defense. Marinette forces a laugh out after a moment, watching as he relaxes at the sound. Chat must have been just as nervous as she, Marinette realizes. Just as he was someone she feared any unwanted judgment from, there was probably an equal share of terror that he faced as well with this, with _all_ of this.

“Is she nice?” Marinette asks, the silence between the two become too tense for herself to bear.

“Very.” Chat grins and moves next to her, leaning his arms on the balcony. He looks up at the stars. “She’s incredible.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Looking over, she catches a grin on his face, just the thought of whoever he’s dating brightening up his whole demeanor. “Is she pretty?” she asks, wanting to cheer up her partner even more.

“That’s an understatement!” Chat leans back from the balcony, hands tightly securing him in place. He swings back onto it and rests once more. “There’s not another girl in the city who holds a candle to her. No offense, my Lady.”

“None taken,” she says, smiling. “Although, I’m sure any girl without a mask on her face would look twice as good as me.”

Chat Noir shakes his head, eyes softening as he lays his gaze on his partner. He would never understand how she didn’t see the beauty she carried, not just in her appearance but in her personality, one he thought he’d never find again.

“I’m… I am glad to know you’re okay with it,” he says, voice struggling to make its way out. He finds a joke to say to lighten his statement, not wanting for Ladybug to see how tense he truly was. “I know, such a shame to have me off of the market, but I’m sure my Lady will be able to move on.”

Marinette laughs. She turns her body around so she’s facing the same way as him and presses her arms on the balcony railing, the cool metal pressing into her.

“Afraid that’s too late,” she tells him. Marinette thinks of no better time to confess than now and braces herself with a quick inhale. She exhales with a sentence.

“I’m dating someone too.”

Chat looks over, eyes widening. “You are?” 

“Yep.”

“I can’t believe it!” he says, shocked. “Someone stole your civilian heart?”

“And why not? You’ve gotten a girlfriend outside of the suit. Why can’t I?” she challenges, casting the cat a look. He throws both hands up in defense, already moving his mouth into a well-meaning smile.

“Not like that my Lady!” he says quickly, hoping she doesn’t take the wrong idea. “It’s just, how can anyone get to the Ladybug that I know?”

“The Ladybug you know?” Marinette asks.

“Quiet, reserved, responsible. The true image of a superhero, but only when you don’t feel the need to prove a point,” Chat says, laughing at the end. Marinette chuckles as well, bringing a hand up to stifle her laughs.

“Well, not to share too much about my personal life,” she starts, “but I’d like to say I’m quite the social butterfly. Wouldn’t say I’m popular, but I wouldn’t say I’m not _not_ popular.”

“Really?” Chat shakes his head in utter disbelief. “What’s next, My Lady? Am I going to find out you copy homework? Stay up late at night? Sleep in?”

Marinette can’t help but snort at that.

“Well, you wouldn’t be wrong,” she tells him, having fun with sharing even a little, vague snippet of her life. She gazes down at her covered arms, enjoying the slight breeze seeping in through tiny holes in her suit. Marinette feels at ease joking with him, so pleased that Chat Noir not only took her confession with ease, but also had something to share. Her eyes scan the floors below, taking in the beauty the abandoned building held.

“We should get started on our patrol,” she tells him. Pushing off the railing, she prepares to journey across Paris. Chat does the same, stretching his arms and preparing to prance up. “Jagged Stone waits for no one, and that means superheroes too.”

“You know, we should all go on a double date sometime,” Chat says as he leaps up to the next balcony. Adrien smiles as he recalls Marinette mentioning them going to see Jagged Stone on their next outskirt together, the memory of the day earlier playing back, of racing through the streets with her.

Of almost winning a kiss from her, and a real one at that.

“We?” Ladybug asks, looking at him bewildered.

“You, me, our civilian lovers. It’d be quite the event.”

“For all of two seconds before Master Fu grabs our kwamis and drags us to the ends of earth,” Marinette says, flinging her yo-yo upwards. “I don’t think I need to tell you _not_ to share your secret identity with your girlfriend, do I?”

“Of course not, my Lady!” Chat laughs. “I can’t even share my identity with you! And, I would never want to endanger her like that! Although, I would say she gets into plenty of chaos without me being nearby.”

“Can you handle her? She sounds like quite a troublemaker,” she remarks.

“Not at all, actually.” They’ve both made their way to the rooftop now, and as they start up a run to the edge, Chat turns to look at Ladybug. “She’s incredible. In fact, I think you two are friends!”

Marinette’s feet leap off the rooftop with ease and come down pounding onto the next roof with a loud _thud_ , one that makes her feet sting and vision turn blurry. She blinks, confused for a second, but continues running to the next roof.

“Excuse me, what?” she shouts out on their next leap. Landing once more, she readies her yo-yo to hook onto a billboard a few rooftops away and turns her gaze to him, feet stomping down harder and harder. “I’m friends with this girl?”

“Well, I think so! You’ve told me before you two have spoken before!” Chat says, smiling at her. “But, I can’t really say much more than that without risking my own identity. I mean, once you get her identity, it shouldn’t be too hard to track down mine. Hey, look out for that bird!”

Marinette struggles to move her feet just in time before she runs into the bird resting on the rooftop, seeing feathers fly as the bird quickly flies up and away from the pair. Heaving out a sigh, she jumps onto the next one and drags her feet, stopping her from any more jumps and leaps off rooftops. Holding her arms out to balance her so close to the edge, Marinette doesn’t know what to think, if her brain is even capable of that. Her mind is a blurry mess, and she can’t help but wonder if it’s the running or Chat’s reveal that’s the reason for it.

Speaking of him, he’s made it halfway through the roof before spotting her not at his side, and hurries to run back to her.

“My Lady?” he asks. “Something up?”

“No… no, nothing’s wrong,” Marinette tells him, trying to control her breath rate that seems to rise with every second. Someone she knows? He’s dating someone she apparently knows? What could that even mean, with Marinette running through the list of citizens she’s run into over all the akuma attacks they’ve faced. There’s very few people who she could even consider an acquaintance, much less a friend.

“You sure?”

“Positive.” Marinette straightens her spine and gives Chat Noir a forced smile, her eyes darting from the ears on his head to the belt tightly secured on his waist. She moves her face away from his gaze and looks out at the skyline. “So… we hit the billboard first? Then make our way down to Jagged’s hotel and stand post?”

Adrien frowns, looking at Ladybug. She’s not okay, he can tell that even without the night vision. She’s panting, eyes darting around the rooftop and her feet already beginning to move without waiting for an answer from him. Sighing, he decides to put his thoughts away and join her, glad at least to have gotten past the one thing that had been on his brain for hours. Swinging onto the next rooftop, he prepares his baton to lift off and allow him to soar through the night, skillfully touching down on the billboard’s edge.

It’s a billboard of himself, Adrien realizes. It’s for that stupid perfume his dad put out, the one that made his nose twitch and caused headaches whenever he was forced to wear it (which was often). They look out onto the streets below them, eyes scanning for any disturbances. Other than groups of tourists drunk and shoving themselves into taxis, and a couple or two strolling about, there’s nothing out of the ordinary.

Marinette sits on the billboard and lets her feet kick the ad, swinging back and forth until the thuds become apart of the background noise. It’s of Adrien she’s noticed, his adorable face bringing a smile to hers as she lets her eyes dart down to the picture. Chat sits down as well next to her, the two keeping close eye until every person has left the area safely and the only sound comes from the flickering of a broken lamppost.

She moves her head to the side, feeling the aches and pains in her neck rise the more she turns it about. Cracking one side, she makes to do the other, laughing as she catches a grimace from Chat.

“What’s up, _chaton_?” she lets out. “Not fond of cracking bones?”

“Not fond at all.”

“Well, you ought to get used to this, especially if you think your body is at any match for a race to the hotel.”

“Against yours? Trust me, if your bones sound as weak as Master Fu’s, then there’s no way you’ll beat me.”

Marinette rises quickly, running down the billboard to the edge. “Well, I guess we’ll find out about that!” she calls out, readying herself for the big jump off. Soaring into the air and freefalling down, she throws out her yo-yo and latches it onto the nearest strong structure, moving her body in the direction of the bank.

“Ladybug! You’re a cheater!” he yells out at her, getting up as fast as he can and rushing to gain on her speed.

“Am not!” she answers, laughing as she releases her yo-yo to secure it on another building. She pushes through, making sure he’s not catching up to her (unless she wants him to). It’s fun, the most enjoyable part of any patrol, where the two test out just how incredible their miraculous powers are, all the while gaining an upper hand in building up strength. It’s also déjà vu-ish in a sense, her race from earlier in the day flashing through her mind.

The night passes by quickly, after a few boring hours looking over the hotel gone and leaving the pair with time to spare. Their regular routine is familiar enough that they can scan their way through Paris’ most populated areas in record time, leaving them to try and use the yo-yo as a makeshift tightrope. Chat is currently in the middle of it, the street down below and his eyes trained on Ladybug. Each step is careful and small, but he continues to taunt and say he could go through it way quicker and faster if Ladybug wanted him to.

“All I want is for you not to fall,” she says, crossing her arms and watching the superhero look down at his feet. “I don’t need to find a replacement Chat Noir if you happen to break every bone, now do I?”

“No one could replace me!” he boasts, arms stretching out more as he puffs out his chest. Wobbling slightly, he makes quicker steps now, ready to get off the thin wire. Reaching the last few steps, he practically leaps off to stand next to his Lady.

“See?” Chat tells her, smug. “I bet you don’t know anybody else who could do that.”

“I guess not,” she laughs out. Marinette smiles, eyes burning as she crinkles them into a smile. Its late, way pass the time they usually do their patrols until, and she can feel her body yearning for her bed. She looks at Chat Noir, who’s cracking his neck and letting out a yawn.

“It’s late, Chat,” she says. “We should probably go in and call it a night, right?”

He nods, grabbing his baton. Marinette retrieves her yo-yo and makes sure its not stretched out from Chat’s tightrope show.

“We probably should anyways. Wouldn’t want your boyfriend to find out you’ve been spending the night with another guy, right My Lady?”

“The same to you,” she responds. “I would hope your girlfriend isn’t the jealous type.”

“A little hot-headed from time to time, but I wouldn’t say jealous.” Chat smiles, the moonlight making his teeth shine brighter. He’s practically glowing the more he talks, and it hits Marinette that from all the hints he’s given her about his real life, he’s always mentioned being alone. There’s been plenty of times where he suggested going out, or to spare a few more hours by his side.

She wonders if for once, he finally has someone to stick by his side.

“I better go,” he says, grinning. Giving her a wave, he springs off the rooftop. She watches him for a moment, bouncing from rooftop to rooftop, before she lets her eyes dart away. Marinette sighs, then sits down and crosses her legs, letting the yo-yo release some wire. Wrapping the thin metal around her fingers, she plays with it.

“Tikki, spots off,” she says, feeling the pink wave wash over her. Pale skin appears where spots once lay, and she feels the mask lift off her face. Marinette feels the wire disappear from her fingers, the cool air taking its place instead. Kwami appearing, Tikki flies up to rest on her knee.

“Why aren’t we headed home?” she asks. “Aren’t you tired from such a long night out?”

“Chat seemed really happy, right?” Marinette asks instead.

Tikki looks up, head tilted slightly as she continues.

“Like… the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time. That girl really must mean something to him, huh?” Marinette looks down at the ground, then turns her gaze over to the direction in which he left in. “I wonder if that’s the first girl to make him like that. Make him… _happy_.”

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous.” Tikki frowns, eyes squinted at her holder.

“No, no… it’s nothing like that,” Marinette says, waving her hands out. She almost knocks over Tikki with her hand motions, causing the kwami to hover slightly. Resting a hand on her face, Marinette casts her gaze on the moon, croissant-shaped tonight and illuminating the sky.

“It’s just… I’ve always thought that silly cat never meant it when he joked about being alone,” she starts. “Or, that he was just reckless when he invited me to hang out with him after akumas. I never thought he might actually be… alone.”

“Well, it would be surprising if you did know. Ladybugs and Chat Noirs are never to really know much about the other, for as long as they have their miraculous.”

 _Or, until they reveal one another_ , Tikki thinks.

“I know, I know. It just really makes me think. It makes me kinda happy he’s found someone he can spend time with, you know? After so long of just being alone.”

“But you wish you had known about it sooner,” Tikki says, figuring out Marinette’s true motives behind the sudden rooftop musing. She nods, ponytails shaking.

“I just feel like I could’ve done more.” Marinette brings her knees closer, resting her face onto it. “I know we can’t share our identities, but always leaving first, or making up excuses to skip out on starting patrol early? Skipping out on some events, or showing up and leaving without so much as a hi? I’ve been pushing him away from probably the only constant person in his life- _me_ \- and didn’t even notice it.”

“Don’t bring yourself down, Marinette.” Tikki flies up closer to Marinette, tiny arms nuzzling her cheek. “You’ve always wanted to help your friends out in and outside of the mask, but sometimes you’ve got to realize things are bigger than they seem. Sure, you wanted to help him out now, but realistically it wouldn’t have been a good idea identity wise to just suddenly share out all of your feelings and personal issues. One thing leads to another, and- “

“And then we have revealed identities, I know,” Marinette finishes. She’s heard this dozens of times from Master Fu and repeated it to herself enough times to make sure she stayed focus on what being a superhero meant.

“Exactly.” Tikki settles into her holder’s shoulder, the warmth from her body a perfect pillow as she continued to talk. “The Marinette in you wants to make sure everyone you care about is happy, but the Ladybug in you knows that you just can’t open up to Chat Noir. And the same for him. Him finding someone who makes him happy; who can soothe those parts behind the mask that you can’t? That’s what he needs more than anything.”

Marinette nods. The same went for her, that she knew. Although the true meaning behind what _girlfriend and boyfriend_ truly meant was a bit murky with Adrien for now and their relationship had quickly gone from awkward friends to almost sort of dating, he was someone she could be comfortable with and someone she wasn’t afraid to open up to (unless it was about confessing her love to him). From listening to her petty comments while scrolling through her Instagram, to being a shoulder for her to vent to when she finished watching a show and was to deal with the depressing reality of nothing else to enjoy. For what Adrien was to her, Chat’s mysterious girlfriend was that to him.

Not to say that Ladybug and Chat Noir weren’t friends, and cool ones at that. She couldn’t count on one hand how many times he had to calm her down from rude citizens, or those times when she and him worked perfectly in sync, defeating akumas with ease. The countless late nights spent downing coffee and prancing around the city were nights Marinette would never forget, and she was sure she had won more 8-ball games against Chat than any other of her friends, even with it being on their miraculous devices.

Still, it still stung to know that while they could fight and talk for hours on end, there wasn’t much other than that, and wouldn’t be for as long as they carried their miraculous.

Marinette turned her head to look at Tikki, smiling at the kwami.

“Let’s go home,” she says, cupping her softly as she got up. After calling out for her transformation, Marinette took off running towards the end of the roof, jumping off and headed for her home. After her talk with Tikki, she felt somewhat better about Chat, and even better knowing that there hadn’t been any conflict between the two after they revealed news of their relationships (although, should there have been?).

Her muscles knew the way home better than her mind did, Marinette jumping over dark alleys and swinging off of lampposts as she did many times before without a second’s thought. It wasn’t long before she was slipping in through her window and throwing herself on her bed, body sore and aching from the long night out. Eyes fluttering shut, she didn’t even bother to close her rooftop window shut, the moonlight beaming down on her and her kwami, fast asleep.

Sitting on the building across the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Adrien was wondering if he could still spend more time in the streets of Paris before having to head home. Plagg was probably crafty up a lengthy and dramatic monologue as he waited for Adrien to detransform, or even better yet was trying to recall his credit card number so he could order enough camembert for the entire year.

Marinette must be asleep, he noted, seeing no lights on through her windows. Understandable since it was late enough for the sun to come back up, but some part of him wished she was awake. He’d shown up to see her a handful of times, and while she didn’t know of his identity behind the mask, Adrien still wanted to drop in for a quick chat.

Key word, he _wanted_ to. With the object of his affections fast asleep, there was no use standing post outside of her house, and even less use in attempting to linger around any longer. Getting up, he prepares his body to leap off onto the building next to him, already knowing no matter how quickly he got home, Plagg would still be mad at him for staying in the suit for so long.

Suddenly, a flash into the night stops him in his tracks, causing Adrien to crouch down low. A suited figure darts around on the buildings close to him, fast and skilled as they leap from building to building.

 _An akuma?_ he mused. _Could Papillion be striking at night as a way to lower their skills and stamina in the daytime?_ Moving lower to the ground, he gets a better view of the person as they come close to him. Or more likely, a look at what the person has on.

“Ladybug?” he whispers out, eyes widening as he realizes it’s the same masked beauty he had been talking to only half an hour before. He ducks in case she catches sight of him, but keeps an eye on her, wondering what the typically straight-to-home hero was doing out and about. She’s nearing Marinette’s home, and Adrien sees a second’s flash of pink glow into Marinette’s room as Ladybug jumps into the rooftop window. He holds his breath, watching the pink light disappear and the darkness take its place.

Adrien waits for who knows how long, watching the windows in the hopes of seeing any movement or _anything_ that could explain what he saw. He finds his mouth dry and legs shaky the more he stares, eyes unmoving until he hears the all too familiar beep of his ring.

Adrien’s unsure of what time it is when he gets up and mindlessly starts heading home, but knows it has to be late (or very early) by the way a small slice of orange paints the horizon, singling a new day.

It’s a wonder as to how he made it home safe, the window behind him left open and the feeling of his suit coming off barely noticed as Adrien stands once more in his room. Plagg’s huffing and muttering under his breath as he throws himself into his trashcan of a bed, preferring to rest rather than yell.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning, kid,” he tells Adrien, his only acknowledgement of what occurred.

Wandering around his room, he goes through the motions relying on only the patterns his brain knows. Adrien vaguely feels hot water running over him and feels the silk fabric of pajamas pulled on afterwards, the sound of a blow dryer on his hair and a comb ran through a few times. He feels his body walking over to his bed, lights turning off and a pillow pressed to his head.

He feels all of this, and yet at the same time feels nothing at all, the only thing occupying his head a repeat of what he had just seen.

Adrien doesn’t know if he’s fallen asleep or if he’s just laid there for hours, but the knock on his door lets him know enough time has passed for it to be morning.

“Adrien,” Nathalie calls out from the other side, “do not forget your schedule today.”

“Yes,” he responds, trying to sound as energetic as he can be while laying down. “I’ll make sure to head downstairs as quickly as I can.”

“Please be timely. We’re headed to do a photoshoot at ten thirty, followed by a fitting for your father’s newest line.”

“Of course, Nathalie.”

He waits until he hears the click of her heels fade away from the door, then rolls over to shove his face in his pillow. Adrien wonders just how long he can keep himself there for until he truly has to get up and face the reality of last night.

Like clockwork, he runs through it once more. Ladybug, running and jumping over rooftops. Ladybug, darting to the bakery’s rooftop. Ladybug, jumping into Marinette’s room.

_Ladybug… being Marinette?_

Almost picking up on Adrien’s thoughts, Plagg flies over to him, wondering how he’s going to soothe the all too stressed out superhero this time.

“So, I guess you’re wondering what happens after this,” he says. Plagg rests on a pillow, the stench of cheese on the kwami unpleasant even with Adrien’s nose blocked by pillow.

“Am I gonna have to give my miraculous back?” he muffles out, aiming to get one question on his mind answered.

“What the hell Agreste? Of course not!” Plagg moves a hand over to lightly nudge Adrien’s head. “You don’t always have to snoop down to emo mode all the time, you know?”

“I know.”

“Just relax a little. So, you saw Ladybug’s true identity?” Plagg waves his hands around. “There’s always been a Chat Noir or two who’s found out, and the same goes for the Ladybugs. It’s pretty much expected every few hundred years or so. No big deal.”

“No big deal?”

“Yeah, no big deal. Now get up and get ready.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” Adrien rolled over, nearly flattening Plagg. He looks up at the ceiling, mocking Plagg. “ _No big deal._ _No big deal!_ ”

“So, you’re still in a bit of shock. It’s happened to a Chat Noir every once and a while,” Plagg says. He flutters over to hover over Adrien’s eyes, forcing the blond to look at him.

“How can Ladybug be the girl I’m dating?”

“Dating is quite the word for someone you said was ‘just a friend’ only weeks ago.”

“Well, sort of dating. But anyways,” Adrien continues, “how could I have never noticed Marinette was… _her_? Now that I look at it, it seems like they were always the same person, down to their hair or the earrings.”

“How can anyone not realize pretty boy Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir?” Plagg counters. “It’s a _thing_ , kid. A miraculous thing that helps shield the holders from those closest to them, _girlfriends included_. It’s what lets you get painted onto every billboard in the city, and still prance about as Chat Noir undetected. It’s what lets Chloé bully Marinette and be a diehard fan for Ladybug in the same breath. And, it lets you wind up going on dates with the same person you fight alongside. If it wasn’t for that super special miraculous thing making sure no one caught wind of your double life, I’m more than sure Paris would’ve learned that the city’s most famous model is also the city’s most famous hero by now.”

“I’m not the most famous,” Adrien says, frowning.

“Well, second famous,” Plagg amends. He moves away from Adrien’s face to move towards his computers, stepping on one of the keys in order to wake the monitor up. Adrien sits up and sees each one brighten up with a picture of Ladybug, looking at Adrien with that always friendly, life-saving smile that brings a new wave of butterflies to his stomach.

“Fact of the matter is, you’ve always been protected, kid. If you two weren’t, then there wouldn’t have been a chance for you two in terms of keeping a hidden identity. And boy do you two need it. I haven’t met kids who wind up being in so much attention since Ladybug was a priestess and Chat Noir was the son of a lord.”

“Chat Noir was once a lord?”

“Not the point. And, _son_ of a lord.”

Adrien sighs. Getting up from the bed, he makes his way over to the computer and sits down. Swiveling around in his chair, he looks up at one of the screens, staring down Ladybug’s face. He notices there wasn’t much concealing her true identity, only the mask keeping some part of her face hidden. But the smile, the freckles, _the hair_. It’s all so familiar and so clear to him he wonders just how long he lived with a smudge over him, hiding what really lay behind the miraculous and what was behind the mask. How many hours had he spent, looking at videos and audio clips of Ladybug speaking, piecing together all his clues for nothing to come of it? To wander into the classroom distraught, and not notice the biggest clue behind him, smiling and stuttering throughout the day? Just how long had the truth been in front of him, and he ignored it all?

“I’m an idiot,” he lets out.

“No, you aren’t,” Plagg says. “Maybe you need a little bit of oil to get the gears rolling, but I wouldn’t say you’re an idiot.”

“Should I let her know that I know?” Adrien moves to grab his phone, which he must’ve plugged in last night in the middle of trying to hold onto some form of sanity. Plagg stops him before he can unlock the phone, throwing his body over the screen and tossing his head back to throw Adrien a look.

“Now _that_ is an idiotic move,” he says to Adrien.

“Why?”

“Why? Are you losing it, kid?” Plagg keeps his hold on the phone even with another attempt at grabbing it from Adrien.

“She deserves to know.”

“With time. And a nice way to break the ice. Not with a text or I’d say, in the midst of all _that_.”

“All of what?” Adrien asks, prompting an eye roll from Plagg. His kwami shifts from cradling the phone to sitting on top of it. Crossing his legs, he gives Adrien a hard stare.

“You and Marinette.”

“What about us?” he asks. Adrien raises a hand to rub at his neck, feeling warmth spread over his cheeks and ears.

“Don’t play around, kid. It’s easy to see- and hear- how close you two have gotten. For camembert’s sake, you guys made up that whole _real_ and _not_ _real_ thing.” Plagg makes a retching sound as he recalls that overly mushy moment. “There’s probably only little time before you two confess your feelings in some cheesy, overblown way, or even less before fate decides to just push you two together.”

“What’s this about fate? Is it also a miraculous thing?”

“I’ll tell you about that when you’re older.” Plagg adjusts his position on the phone, looking every bit like a smaller version of Dr. Phil. “Fact of the matter is, there’s no telling how she’ll take this. The guy she just so happens to be ‘dating’ ends up being the one guy she’s been pushing aside and turning down for months on end? And then to reverse on that, this guy she’s been fighting alongside for months is none other than the guy she’s just started to ‘date’ after months of crushing on him? How does that sound to you?”

Adrien blinks, mind working it all out. Or trying to, at least.

“A bit complicated,” he lets out after a moment.

“That’s what I thought,” Plagg says, smug. “And, I haven’t even mentioned how she’d feel after finding out her identity was revealed.”

“Oh man.” Adrien slumps in his chair. He hadn’t even thought about Marinette’s feelings towards him once he revealed he knew her identity, or even then how to explain just exactly how he found out. Would she hate him? Feel betrayed, on more than one level? Just how would it change their relationship, as superheroes and then as… something?”

The buzz of his phone distracts him from his thoughts, Plagg shooting up from the vibrations and glaring at the device. Adrien looks at the name on the screen, _mari <3_ along with a selfie of her flashing up at him. He feels his heart start to thump, wondering if she suspects anything from last night.

“Well, are you gonna get it?” Plagg asks to an unresponsive Adrien. Not wanting to wait around for an answer, he flies up and presses down hard on _accept_ and the speaker button, leaving Adrien with no choice but to grab hold of the phone.

“Hello? Adrien?” she asks. Adrien looks over at Plagg, unsure of what to say.

 _Say hi_ , mouths Plagg.

“Hi,” says Adrien.

“Is this a bad time?” Marinette asks. On the other side of the phone, she’s laying down on her bed and watching the sunlight filter in, still feeling drowsy after just waking up.

“No, no, no! It’s uh, a perfect time!” He leans back in the chair, looking at the time and making note that he should really be getting ready for breakfast before Nathalie comes back up. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing. I just woke up and wanted to say good morning!”

“Really? How did you sleep?”

“Not the best, I’ll admit,” she says, giggling at the end of her sentence. Adrien feels a smile form on his face at the sound of her laugh, all too familiar no matter with or without the mask on. “I must’ve stayed up late until like two in the morning last night.”

“Why so late?” he asks, attempting to sound innocent in order to hear what she has to say for an excuse. Of course, he really knows what she would have been doing- he was there for God’s sake- but there was no way he was gonna let her in on that. For now, at least.

“Sewing,” she says, the lie slipping out as easy as slicing butter. Marinette moves a bit on her bed, looking at the still sleeping Tikki next to her. Tikki had been recharging for what seemed like hours, only waking up briefly to eat some cookies Marinette had left out last night before shutting her eyes again. “I was up for who knows how long just focused on this dress, and by the time I finished I could barely keep my eyes open.”

 “Oh really?” Adrien responds, arching a brow at her lie. He looks over at Plagg, wondering what the kwami has to offer him. Plagg doesn’t look up, preferring to focus more on his tiny claws.

Glancing at the time on his computer, Adrien decides to get up and try to look somewhat put together before Nathalie comes to force him downstairs. Making his way to the bathroom, Marinette continues to talk.

“Yeah, I know, not the healthiest thing to do. I’m assuming Mr. Model fell asleep at ten and woke up to birds chirping outside his window?”

“Very funny,” he lets out, laughing at her quip towards him. “I’ll have you know I’m smearing concealer under my eyes as we speak.”

“Concealer, huh? I’m assuming you stayed up pretty late too then. What time did you sleep at?”

“That’s even funnier.”

“Don’t tell me you stayed up all night. And for what?”

Adrien runs his fingers under the water, cleaning the makeup off. Grabbing his toothbrush, he spreads some paste on it and runs water over it.

“Uhhhhh…. just some stuff,” he says. Sighing, Adrien can just sense how hard his braincells must be working (and failing).

“Stuff? It’s suddenly all very clear then,” Marinette laughs at him from the other side. “You and Nino were up playing those silly games again, weren’t you? Those battle royale things.”

“Uh, yeah!” Adrien says before sticking the toothbrush in his mouth. He runs it over his teeth fiercely, glad Marinette offered him up an excuse to use instead of scrambling around for something. “You hit the bullseye!”

Marinette frowns as she hears him getting ready, the sound of the water loud and hard for her to make out Adrien. “Are you sure you’re fine, Adrien? You sound kind of… weird.”

“It’s just the toothpaste,” he spits out, watching the blue paste get swept down the drain. “Promise I’m fine.”

“Really?” she questions.

“Yep,” he says, popping the _p_.

“Well then, if you are…” Marinette plays with the necklace on her chest and squeezes her eyes shut, trying to find some strength she usually has to get from Tikki. Adrien being weird or not, she was going to spit this out no matter what.

“A-Are you up for the movies later today? They’re playing some cool buddy-cop film. It’ll be fun!” she almost shouts out, voice high pitched and her words falling over each other, shoving one another in a haste to get out of her mouth.

“Really? A movie date?” Adrien asks, before gargling the toothpaste in his mouth and spitting it down the drain.

“Well, I wouldn’t call it a date… unless you want to! That’s totally fine!” she answers, before grimacing at her near shout towards the end.

“Well that’s good to hear, because I’m gonna address it as a date from now on.”

Marinette shoves her face into the nearest pillow, letting out a high-pitched scream that’s thankfully muffled. _Date! Another date! A_ real _date!_

“Totally,” she lets out once she comes up for air, attempting some form of a normal voice (it’s not).

Adrien smiles as he thinks about spending time with her, but then feels a bit uneasy about being alone with her. With Ladybug. No, with Marinette. Well, both. He grabs a towel and dries his face, reaching for his moisturizer.

“I’ll see if Nathalie will let me,” Adrien says as he starts rubbing the lotion on his face, nose crinkling at the smell. “She says I have a schedule today though, so it might be a little tricky to get around her.”

“Oh.” Marinette blinks, wondering what to say next. She’s never done stuff like this alone, and never with eyes still stuck tight with sleeping dust. Adrien does sound a bit busy, and with the way he’s answering to her, she would assume he’s probably rushing about or stressed about something.

“Well, if you’re gonna be busy today, it’s fine if we don’t go…” she starts off, trying not to let him hear her disappointment.

He does.

“Well, you could come with, if you want,” he slips out, all too ready to try and please his Lady and girlfriend (of sorts). Adrien slaps a hand over his mouth, then pulls away once he realizes said hand is covered in very expensive, very _disgusting_ moisturizer. Sputtering and reaching for his towel, Adrien quickly cleans his mouth.

“You can’t be serious! Really?” she asks, excitement easy to hear through the phone. She hears Adrien cough on the other side, and the water suddenly stop running.

Adrien hums his answer, still working with getting the taste of chemicals off his tongue. Once he feels most of the lotion gone, he grabs his phone and exits the bathroom, headed for his closet. Propping the phone on a shelf, he scans what he could wear (at least until he’s forced to dress in other outfits).

“Of course,” he clarifies, wondering why he’s still going along with this. He doesn’t have the slightest idea as how to even say continue a conversation on the phone and doesn’t think he’ll do any better in person. Taking off his pajamas, he rummages in his brain for what to wear and better yet, what to say.

“You’re sure Nathalie or your father won’t mind?”

“My father’s holed up in his office designing. And, I’m sure Nathalie wouldn’t mind much.”

 _She will_ , he tells himself, slinging on a shirt. _Unless Marinette will pull a sewing machine out of her ass and be ready to hem and tailor any clothes handed over to her, Nathalie will probably froth at the mouth for hours on end with the schedule altered_.

“Are you sure?” Marinette asks once more. She spots Tikki waking up, and throws the sleepy kwami a grin, pointing to her phone with glee. Tikki smiles at her holder, shifting on the pillow to get a better listen as Marinette puts the phone’s speaker on.

“Well, if it was only up to me, then yes,” he says. Shrugging on some pants, he grabs the phone again and walks out to the computer desk, where Plagg is scrolling with both tiny hands through images and images of cheese. Sitting down, he grabs the jacket laying on the back of the chair and throws it on, feeling somewhat put together.

“But,” he continues, “if there ends up being no way for us to hang out because of my schedule, I can promise I’ll buy all the popcorn and candy you ask for.”

“ _All_ the popcorn and candy? My, my, _what_ a gentleman.” Marinette looks at Tikki and stifles a giggle, quite used to having flirts thrown at her that she can’t help but retort with something witty of her own. By now, it’s even become sort of a reflex for Marinette to deflect, with Chat usually being her punching bag of sorts whenever he tries to throw a flirt her way (which is often).

Adrien blinks, surprised at her tone. It’s the same kind of tone he’s heard from Ladybug countless times, usually paired with an eye roll or a scoff, or even a yo-yo away from him to the next building. Coming from Marinette, it’s something he wouldn’t have thought of her to say, yet at the same time something he doesn’t question too hard. After recalling those rare occasions she became irritated or even a little peeved, Marinette’s usually showed a much blunter and more honest version of herself. The Ladybug version, if he had to call it something.

Adrien laughs, finding it odd that his brain still separates the two. He assumes that it’s still trying to process the fact that _yes_ , Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug, and that _yes_ , they truly are much more similar than Adrien could have imagined.

“What’s so funny?” she asks, wondering just what’s up with Adrien today.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. Just a funny video I saw on my timeline,” he says quickly. Adrien coughs, looking at Plagg for any suggestions on what to say next. He gazes at him lazily before turning back to the cheeses before him, scrolling more.

 _Great_ , he thinks. _The best kwami a guy could ask for._

“You’re acting weird,” Marinette says, unable to hide her thoughts any longer.

“Am I?” Adrien asks. He clears his throat, feeling his heartrate speed up a bit more. Weird? Him? Could the stress of attempting to act normal around Marinette lead to him not coming off as normal?

“Well, a little,” she corrects. “Not that it isn’t a bad thing, but are you sure you’re okay?”

“Of course, I am!” Adrien exclaims, before clearing his throat once more. He lowers his voice, attempting again. “I mean, of course, I am.”

“Maybe you should get in a little nap before your schedule kicks in.”

“Yeah, maybe I should.” He leans back in his chair, staring up at the picture of Ladybug on one of his monitors. Or, er, of _Marinette_. He gazes at it like it’ll paint out all the answers he needs, or perhaps come to life and soothe him of all his worries.

Suddenly, the more he gazes at it, the more he finds himself pushed to do something, something bold and brave and what Plagg would call straight up idiotic.

“Hey, Marinette?” he starts.

“Yeah?” she asks. Marinette shrugs at Tikki, wondering what he has to say so suddenly.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

“You have?” Marinette’s breath hitches, heart beginning to start up with that _bumpbumpbump_ again. Tikki doesn’t stop herself from flying closer, making sure to be close enough to hear what Adrien has to say. Marinette wonders if just maybe, _maybe_ , he’ll come out and say those three little words she’s always dreamt of hearing.

Plagg stills from scrolling on his cheeses, but doesn’t make any move to stop Adrien from continuing. He waits, wondering what mistake he’ll make this time.

“Yes. I have. It’s something that I really want to tell you, something that I- “

“Adrien?” comes from his door, followed by three stern knocks that interrupts his train of thought. “What is taking so long?”

“Oh, Nathalie!” he calls out, his current conversation pushed aside. “I’ll be down right away.”

Marinette feels her heart beat faster, waiting for him to continue. She hears muffling noises, and the sound of a door slamming shut. After a minute, the noises cease.

“Sorry for that,” Adrien says, clearing his throat and talking louder into the phone. He grabs his charger from the outlet and shoves it into his pocket, then grabs his wallet and a pair of headphones. Rushing around, he scrambles to find everything he needs.

“You wanted to tell me what?” she asks, prompting him to continue from where he left off.

“What?”

“What you were just about to say. What was it?” Marinette finds her throat dry, struggling with the question. Tikki gazes at her, eyes softening as she realizes what Marinette hopes she’ll hear. The one thing that’ll grant all her wishes and make all the months spent crushing and fawning over worth it.

The one thing she had been hoping for when she first agreed to his plan.

“Oh, sorry Marinette, I gotta go,” Adrien says, grabbing Plagg and shoving him into his jacket (but not without a sound of protest). He shuts down the monitors and heads for the door, making sure to flick off every light.

“You’re going already?” she asks, and Adrien grimaces as he places a hand on the doorknob, noting the sound of disappointment in her voice. He wishes there had been better timing on his part, but Nathalie has let him know that won’t be the case.

“I’m late for breakfast, so by Nathalie’s standards I’m late for everything now. She’s pushing forward the schedule.”

“But what about what you were about to- “

“I have to go,” he apologizes, flinging open the door and starting to head down the stairs. “I’ll text when I can, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Bye!”

“By- “’

He hangs up before she can finish. Marinette looks at her phone, screen flashing up only her lockscreen. A picture of her and Adrien, of course. The two smile back at her, every bit the happy couple.

Tikki sighs, pressing her body against Marinette’s cheek in a form of comfort.

“I wonder what he was going to say,” she muses, pulling away from Marinette.

“Yeah, me too,” Marinette agrees. She unlocks her phone and makes to text him, but thinks better of it. Her mind feels clouded, every bit trying to decipher first what he meant to say, and then how weirdly he had been acting. Getting up from her bed, Marinette makes her way down the ladder and then to her vanity.

“I’m sure it wasn’t something too serious,” Tikki comments, flying down to Marinette’s desk. She rests on the mousepad, getting comfy as her holder moves about.

“Hopefully,” Marinette says. She runs a hand through her hair, and catches it on enough knots to make her scalp ache. Sighing, she picks up a brush and begins running it through, over and over until she’s made it frizzy yet smooth. She leans in closer to the mirror and sees that along with freckles overtaking her face, there’s deep and dark circles under her eyes as well.

“I shouldn’t have stayed out so late last night,” she moans out, moving her head here and there to see just how bad the bags are. Which are, unsurprisingly, very bad.

“Look at me! I look like someone dug me straight out of a grave.”

“You don’t look that bad.”

“Don’t lie to me like that, Tikki.” Sighing, she runs her hands over her face, feeling all of the oil and gunk from last night still on her. “I shouldn’t have skipped my face routine last night.”

“Well, you were pretty tired. I bet Chat Noir is even worse.”

“Of course, he would be,” she says, laughing. “He’s always staying out late, or doing weird tricks that Alya always seems to find footage of and post on the Ladyblog. In fact, I bet he’s still asleep.”

“Or maybe he’s up and talking to his girlfriend,” Tikki comments.

“Maybe,” Marinette turns to Tikki. “I bet _he_ doesn’t act weird around his girlfriend.”

“Marinette, maybe Adrien was tired? He _does_ have a busy schedule as a model.”

“Yeah… but something just felt off this time. What do you think he wanted to say to me?”

“Who knows?” Tikki says. “For all we know, he could be saying anything, like he swims with dolphins on his down time or gets facials once a week.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Marinette says, dismissing Tikki’s suggestions. “No, it must’ve been something really important, or he wouldn’t have sounded so weird on the phone. I know Adrien better than I know myself, and I just know it was something that bothered him.”

“Maybe he wanted to say how much he really liked you?”

“Haha, Tikki. You’re _hilarious_ ,” Marinette says, rolling her eyes at the kwami. She tries to deny the beating of her heart picking up the more she thinks about that being the case, and grabs her brush once more, running it through her hair harder.

“I’m being serious, Marinette,” Tikki says.

“And so am I,” Marinette tells her, running the brush through her hair harder the more she talks. “So, what if I wanted him to say that? What if I wanted him to sit me down and press a dozen roses into my arms? What if I wanted him to look in my eyes and go, _‘Marinette, I just love you! Way more than Kagami and Lila and most certainly more than_ Chloé _! I’m sick of all this fake dating and want to be your_ real _boyfriend! And yes, I do want three kids and a hamster and hey!- why don’t we go and get a cat as well! And, we’ll get a nice house and-_ “

“Marinette,” Tikki interrupts, stopping Marinette from continuing her daydream. “Back to the point.”

“The idea is nice to think about. But, it certainly won’t happen,” she summarizes, pulling the brush away from her sore scalp. “The idea of him actually saying he likes me is about as real as say… Adrien being Chat Noir.” Marinette laughs, pointing the brush to Tikki. “Now _that_ is something out of this world, right?”

“Right,” Tikki agrees. She smiles, unable to hide her amusement in the irony of it all. She assumes Plagg has as much fun with Adrien as well, although not as dramatic as Marinette likes to make things. In fact, she wonders if she can find the chance to sneak away one night and find the black kwami, question him a bit on the whole situation and what he thinks of it.

“But,” she counters, suddenly remembering their date, “didn’t Adrien and you talk all of your feelings out yesterday?”

Marinette’s cheeks blush, a memory of Adrien and her on a picnic blanket, sharing out all of their feelings before her. Shaking her head, she rids herself of those thoughts.

“He only said he liked being around me and he didn’t want to keep up a lie anymore,” she says, trying to move on.

“Isn’t that good enough?”

“No!” Marinette says, wincing at how loud she was. She exhales, lowering her voice and walking over to the desk. She flops into the chair, spinning around in it. “Obviously, he doesn’t want to make me feel bad for being his fake girlfriend, so he just wanted to make it clear we aren’t a couple at all.”

“But didn’t you tell Chat Noir just last night you two were dating?”

“Well yeah, but… “

“And didn’t he say that he was fine with it being just the two of you, and no labels?”

“Well… when you put it like that- “

“Marinette, it’s obvious that you’re denying something here.” Tikki flies off the mousepad and hovers in front of Marinette’s face, staring her down.

“I’m not,” she denies.

“You are! What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Marinette answers. She looks at her kwami, and focuses onto what is behind her. A smiling image of Adrien stares back, a picture she chose from the night he took her to that show to be her desktop.

“I just… don’t know,” she repeats. And she doesn’t. Pushing her hair back, Marinette stands up, making Tikki fly back to avoid getting knocked into.

“I’m gonna take a shower. If you get hungry, I have a box of cookies in my drawer.”

Tikki turns to the cookies and leaves Marinette be, rummaging around the various drawers and little out a yelp once she finds her treasure. Grabbing a towel, Marinette heads down her ladder quickly. She’s both glad to be away from the questions and to finally wash up from a night out protecting Paris.

When the water’s begun to rain down on her, and she’s lathered up with enough soap and shampoo to last a lifetime, Marinette finds herself alone with her thoughts. Whereas they used to only occupy Adrien, she now sees there’s more than just that cute blond keeping her busy. It’s Tikki and her questions, and on top of that, Marinette’s _own_.

Rinsing her hair, Marinette realizes that she _does_ know why. She knows why she deflected Tikki’s questions, and why she’s denying obvious things over and over. She knows the source behind her unease, and the answer to why she felt so nervous when Adrien said he wanted to tell her something.

She was scared, and not for something out of her power for once.

This time, she was scared of herself. Herself, and the blossoming relationship between her and Adrien that while she had always dreamed for, had never expected to come to fruition so quickly. The phone call from moments earlier was a clear indication of that. Adrien never acted so strange like that before, and Marinette tensed up with anxiety every time she imagined what he wanted to end his sentence with.

Could he have been about to confess to her, like Tikki had suggested. But then again, there brings a new set of questions for her.

What would she do if he admitted her feelings to him? How could she even begin to fathom a reality where Adrien Agreste _liked_ her? What would that even be like? All of a sudden, he wanted to be with her, and not just because they had to keep up a lie?

Sure, Marinette had always dreamt of that to come true, but suddenly facing that opportunity, even in her mind, made her feel weak in the knees and made shampoo fall into her eyes.

Wincing, Marinette scrambled for a handful of water to wash the soap out, finding it hard to open it without feeling the sting. Marinette turned the water hotter, hoping the pain would knock some sense into her the longer she showered.

Of course, that wouldn’t happen, she reasoned with herself. It wouldn’t. It couldn’t. Adrien Agreste just didn’t, just absolutely _didn’t_ , like her like that.

_Or did he?_

Marinette sighed, mind going in ten thousand directions at once. She was being dramatic, and overthinking on something she hadn’t found the answer to yet. For all she knew, he probably just wanted to say something dumb, like what his favorite cereal was, or that Jagged Stone was coming out with a new album (not like she didn’t already know about that, though).

She stays in the shower until it runs cold, and her fingers start to look like raisins. Wrapping herself in her towel, she steps out and heads for her room again. She’s in no better place than where she was before her shower but feels way cleaner.

“Adrien texted you,” Tikki says once she pops her head back into the room.

“He did?”

“Yep. I haven’t checked, but that ringtone you picked out for him is impossible to ignore.”

Marinette’s shooting up to her bed, searching the blankets for her phone. Grabbing it, she unlocks her phone and clicks on her messages. Naturally, she feels her heart pick up speed as she clicks on his name, finding several messages from him.

_Hey Marinette! I’m gonna be busy all day, but if you’re free tomorrow Nathalie swore she’ll let me take you out!_

_I’m sorry btw, for hanging up so suddenly. She was not happy that I was taking so long to get ready!_

_I hope I didn’t make you mad…_

Fingers tapping on her keyboard quickly, she sends out quick three messages, not caring for the water droplets falling onto her screen or dropping into quick abbreviations. She’s so dumb, _so so so_ dumb for not bringing her phone to the bathroom, and even more dumb for making him think he did something wrong.

_omg no adrien don’t worry! ofc ur totally fine :D_

_i’m like 87% sure i promised my parents i’d help bake all day tomorrow tho :(_

_but, like i mentioned yesterday, i’m free the day of jagged’s concert!_

She doesn’t have to wait long, seeing three little bubbles pop up right after she sends out the last text. Tikki flies up, watching the girl dressed still in her towel and focused intensely on her phone.

Adrien frowns, pulling up Urban Dictionary and finding answers to all the slang Marinette throws into her texts. After deciphering her messages, he sends out his response.

_Okay!! I’m assuming you’d want to go then?_

He waits for her message, back turned from the stylists and tapping his foot impatiently in the hopes of getting a response quickly. They hum and mutter with each other, amused at Adrien’s act today, so different from the usually still and quiet model.

_obvs i’d love to go with you! maybe then you’ll be able to even tell me abt that thing you were about to say on the phone! :)_

_Oh right_ , he reminds himself. That thing he was about to say. That idiotic act that’s lead to Plagg pinching him for the past hour at random moments, clearly displeased in his holder. While he hadn’t had the chance to scold him, Adrien knew he was in for the confrontation of his life after his day’s activities were over. Confessing to her the truth was on the tip of his tongue earlier, Adrien finding it hard to hear her voice without yearning to admit it all and free himself from the lie he held.

 _Of course!_ he texts back. He throws in a smile as an afterthought, even while his mind looks every bit the sad face. Oh, how he wishes to just tell her! To grab her shoulders and pull her close, and to smile into those eyes he’s fell in love with once before, and then again in a whole new way, and to finally come clean and admit that he’s never cared before about who lay behind the mask but after finding out it was _her_ , he had never been so happy and excited and-

He freezes, picking out one word from his imaginary declaration. He feels his heart pick up again, and a blush spread across his cheeks as he finds no disagreement to that word in his mind, nor in his heart.

 _Love_. Once, with Ladybug. And once more, with the same girl.

“Adrien dear,” one of the stylists call out after catching his reflection in the mirror. “We haven’t even put on your makeup yet, but you’re looking quite red.”

Adrien looks up, turning even more red as they giggle. “Am I?” he asks, before pocketing his phone and sitting in the chair. He turns to face away from the mirror, unwillingly to stare at his reflection and find that they were right. “Why don’t you guys just put on foundation and even it all out? I wouldn’t want to look bad while they take pictures.”

He settles into the chair, closing his eyes and trying to block out the snickers. Funny as is for them, Adrien can’t help the blush on his face, which doesn’t go away even while they cover it with makeup. Eyes closed, he sees her image over and over, imagining what reaction she might give once he reveals to her that not only does he know of her identity, but that she should know of his as well.

He imagines her reaction to something else, but a confession of a different sort. One not so connected to masks and miraculouses.

One that focused solely on them, and what truly was real between them.

 

**Author's Note:**

> somewhere on one of these chapters are all of my socials, but uhhh in case you wanna see them again:  
> mari-cheres: tumblr  
> inuyashas_: twitter  
> mari_cheres: insta


End file.
